New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton hands out boxes of food to oil spill families in Venice, La.

Sean Payton delivers! In this case he is delivering food to those in need in South Louisiana. God bless him for supporting the community the way he does. The story comes from the NOLA.com site:

Two days before he was to open training camp, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton stood in the hot south Louisiana sun hoisting boxes of food and personal supplies into a steady stream of vehicles slowly pulling past him in Venice.

For a man who has heard more than his share of cheers since leading the Saints to the Super Bowl championship, Payton was hearing a different kind of appreciation on Tuesday.

"I thought he was a wonderful coach before, now I think he is a wonderful man," said Catherine Reels, 55. "I think the world of him helping like this."

Payton, through his Play it Forward Foundation, teamed up with Feed the Children to help 2,800 families affected by the BP oil spill.

Payton and fellow Saints coaches, as well as country music artist Sammy Kershaw, kept busy handing out 25-pound packages of food, 10-pound boxes of personal care items such as paper towels, toilet paper and personal grooming needs, bottled water and bags of fresh fruit.

"After two or three months, it's easy for people to like they've slipped through the cracks," Payton said. "The real thing we're about today is hope. Letting people know they are not forgotten."

The food distribution was the first of eight planned Tuesday and Wednesday.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Fr. Robert Barron on BP Oil Spill

Gulf Oil Disaster Update

God bless our wonderful Governor and God bless the people of Louisiana and the Gulf Region. Hat tip to Gateway Pundit:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said the state will not waiting for federal approval to begin building sand barriers to protect the coastline from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Oil has pushed at least 12 miles into Louisiana’s marshes, with two major pelican rookeries awash in crude.

Gov. Jindal was critical of the amount of boom his state received to ward off the oil seeping toward the coastline. But his major gripe comes at the expense of the Army Corps of Engineers, who have yet to give the go-ahead for the building of sand booms to protect the Louisiana wetlands. He used photographic evidence of oil breaking through hard booms, soft booms and another layer of protection, before being finally being corralled by a sand boom built by the National Guard.

“It is so much better for us. We don’t want oil on one inch of Louisiana’s coastline, but we’d much rather fight this oil off of a hard coast, off of an island, off of an island, off of a sandy beach on our coastal islands, rather than having to fight it inside in these wetlands,” Gov. Jindal said, making the case for sand booms.

The governor said he has been forced to protect Louisiana without the approval of the Army Corps of Engineers, which is weighing the ecological impact of the construction of more sand booms.

Prayer Need: Gulf Oil Disaster

The following came from NOLA.com.

Fr. John Arnone, Pastor of St. Bernard Catholic Church talks candidly with Hugh Johnson, a lifelong resident of Yscloskey, La. following the special prayer service at the Breton Sound Marina in Hopedale, Saturday May 1, 2010, scheduled to pray for God to protect His people, the victims of the rig explosion and the fight against the oil spill.

The following comes from the Miracle of the Rosary Mission:

PRAYER

Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Queen of the Universe and Sovereign full of kindness, you are the advocate of sinners, a haven of safety to the shipwrecked, the health of the sick and infirm, the consolation of the afflicted, the refuge and salvation of all on earth. O Mary, grant us, we beseech you, the help of your prayers to obtain the graces we implore, and in particular (here name the favor desired). Let your maternal heart be touched by our misery; hasten to our assistance and be to us, now and at the hour of our death, OUR LADY OF PROMPT SUCCOR. Amen.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. (Three times.)

At the front lines of the spill in Venice, Louisiana

Past hurricane victims look to gulf oil spill with 'great anxiety,' archbishop says

The following comes from the CNA:

Responding to the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Catholic archbishops in the region have called for prayers for those affected. Many people are watching the spill with “great anxiety,” one prelate notes, because they have barely recovered from Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina and don’t need “a man-made disaster.” The spill began last week when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, creating three leaks in a pipe and killing eleven people.

The oil company BP has been trying without success to activate a valve on the well to cut the flow of oil, Nola.com reports. Meanwhile, the oil slick had made landfall in parts of Lousiana as of Friday afternoon.

The Archbishop of New Orleans Gregory Aymond in a Friday letter to all the parishes of his archdiocese asked for prayers for all the victims of the blast. He encouraged prayers for those who died, those injured, and their families, that “God may give them peace in their time of crisis.”

“Pray too for those working to clean up the oil spill and for those that will be adversely affected by the effects of the spill.”

“At these times of tragedy, it is important that we remain focused on God’s love and that we are witnesses of hope,” Archbishop Aymond added.

A Catholic prayer service for those affected is scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Breton Marina Sound in Hopedale, Louisiana, according to the archdiocese.

The spill threatens the coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile spoke about the oil spill in a Friday phone interview with CNA / EWTN News.

He said people in Alabama are watching the developing spill “very intensely” and with “great anxiety.”

“Our fishing industry and tourism industry are just recovering after Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina,” he said. “People have been able to rebuild lives and livelihoods. This can cause considerable damage.”

“We hope that it is not going to,” he added. “People in the seafood industry have had a number of natural disasters. They do not need a man-made disaster.”

He pointed out that the summer tourist season is about to begin, during which hotels and other rental properties are usually filled with tourists.

“We are hoping that the tourists will still come. It remains to be seen whether the oil will impact our beautiful beaches.

“Otherwise the damage to people’s livelihoods and to the environment will be considerable.”

Asked about how the archdiocese will reach out to those affected, he told CNA / EWTN News the archdiocese in the past has given “considerable help” to those affected by hurricanes.

“If people suffer financially because of this man-made situation we’ll do our best to assist people.”

Addressing Catholics and the United States as a whole, he implored, “Please join with us in praying that the efforts underway right now will be successful in containing this oil spill.”

Prayer need: Oil Spill in the Gulf

Oil Spill Video: Reporters explain status

Oil Spill Video: Reporters give Friday update