Photo Caption: The football field of Marquette Academy in Ottawa is covered in flood water on April 21. Heavy rainfall in mid-April led to flooding that devastated some communities and damaged Catholic properties.

By: By Tom Dermody, The Catholic Post

Joe Plankenhorn stood outside his home and neighboring pottery business in Utica — both inundated with several feet of flood water — last Sunday and remembered the words he’d prayed so earnestly two weeks earlier at nearby St. Mary’s Church.

“Jesus, I trust in you.”

Record flooding hasn’t dampened his faith in Divine Mercy.

“We have to trust God’s way,” said Plankenhorn. Though sometimes God’s ways are not our own, he said, it’s always better to “let God steer the boat.”

It was appropriate symbolism during days when thousands around the Diocese of Peoria and across the state found themselves either cleaning up from floodwaters or preparing for them. Widespread heavy rainfall April 17 and 18 — as much as six inches was common — caused rivers and creeks to overflow their banks, sewers to back up, and roads and bridges to close.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has declared 44 counties as state disaster areas.

CATHOLIC PROPERTIES AFFECTED
Among the hardest hit communities were Marseilles in LaSalle County and Roanoke in Woodford County.

In Marseilles, about 1,500 citizens were evacuated April 18 when the Illinois River breached a levee that had been struck by wayward barges. Dozens of city blocks were flooded.

Among those asked to leave by state police was Msgr. Brian Rejsek, pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish.

“I got Jesus out of the tabernacle and I left,” he told The Catholic Post. Msgr. Rejsek stayed the next two nights at St. Columba’s Rectory in Ottawa.

When he was allowed to return Sunday morning, he found damage caused by up to five inches of water in the parish’s CCD center and hall. The church took in less water, thanks to a well-sealed front door, but still had wet carpeting up to the sanctuary. The rectory, on slightly higher ground, was spared.

Mass will be celebrated at an alternate location in the near future, most likely at St. Patrick’s Church in nearby Seneca.

On Sunday, Msgr. Rejsek urged parishioners to remember the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd carrying a lost sheep on his shoulders as they “go out and take care of people in desperate situations” or deal with their own.

“That is what our Lord is going to do for us,” he said. “No one can take you out of the Father’s hands.”

In Roanoke, a flooding Panther Creek forced many residents from their homes. A sewage back-up caused flooding in the newly remodeled parish hall in the basement of St. Joseph’s Church.

“All of it, from one end to another, was just soaked,” said Msgr. Charles Beebe, pastor, who discovered the damage last Thursday morning. Walls, flooring and cabinets were damaged to the extent that the parish will be without its hall for several weeks.

“I’m very thankful for the diocese and its insurance program,” he told The Catholic Post on Tuesday. At weekend Masses, many expressed concern for neighbors.

“Every one of us knows somebody affected by the flood,” said Msgr. Beebe. “Some have no flood insurance. People have lost homes, knocked off the foundations.”

OTTAWA, CARTHAGE, WYOMING
Elsewhere in the Diocese of Peoria:

— In Ottawa, 10 feet of water from the Fox River covered Gould Stadium, the football field of Marquette Academy, damaging bleachers and concession stands. While the field has flooded in past years, “this is the highest we’ve ever had,” said principal Brooke Rick. She said that volunteers who quickly mobilized to move equipment from the stadium’s storage facility April 18 stayed and helped neighbors as the river reached record levels.
A regional confirmation Mass scheduled for Marquette’s gym on Thursday night was canceled as roads leading into Ottawa were closed. Bishop Jenky was to have administered the sacrament to nearly 170 youths from parishes around the Ottawa vicariate. The confirmation ceremony has been rescheduled for May 30, The Catholic Post learned late Tuesday.
Marquette Academy was closed on Friday.

— In Carthage, more than three feet of water had to be pumped out of the basements of Immaculate Conception Church and rectory.

— In Peoria, while the Illinois River crested at record levels on Monday, it was lightning from last week’s storm that affected electrical work at Guardian Angel Home on Catholic Charities’ West Peoria campus.

— In Wyoming, the basement of St. Dominic’s Church had three feet of water. Father Vien Van Do, pastor, said the basement is used to store seasonal church decorations, and that some were lost. The rectory basement had lesser amounts of water, but is carpeted.

Melissa Block, claims risk manager for Catholic Mutual Group — the diocese’s property insurer — was busy this week traveling to some of the hardest-hit sites, assessing damage and facilitating repair.

It will be a long process for many. Joe Plankenhorn has been through it before in Utica, the last time in 2008. He hopes to reopen his pottery studio in a month or so.

Till then?

“I get a lot of benefit going to church and being with the parish family,” he said, expressing gratitude for the words of comfort and hope expressed by many at the 8 a.m. Mass last Sunday. “I use God as my strength.”