(OSV News) — A year after deadly flash flooding in Kerrville, Texas, took the lives of more than 130 people, Catholic clergy in Texas have given encouragement and support to those who suffered loss.
Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio celebrated a Mass Aug. 2 in Kerrville, which had again experienced dangerous flooding in mid-July this year.
“I come with affection and prayer, especially on this first anniversary of the flood, and so soon after, the waters have once again wounded this community,” said the archbishop in his homily. “Know that the wider Church remains close to you. And that I carry you in my heart today and always.”
The recent flooding in central Texas left at least two people dead, with some areas reported to be harder hit than last year’s deadly floods.
River swelled to almost 30 feet in 2025
On July 4, 2025, the waters of the Guadalupe River swelled to almost 30 feet in some areas, whisking away scores of people including 25 girls and two counselors from an all girls Christian summer camp. A Catholic family vacationing on the river lost its two children and one set of grandparents to the floods.
Archbishop García-Siller was at Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio. The church became a humanitarian center after last year’s deadly flood, where people dropped off food and water, clothing and cleaning supplies. It was also the site of a nightly rosary some days after the tragedy.
At the Aug. 2 Mass, the archbishop referred to the reading in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus feeds the hungry crowd of thousands by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish.
“Jesus shows that in the midst of difficulties, and when people are wounded, we don’t turn our backs on the situation,” he said. “And above all, to the people who are hurt, Jesus moves towards them. And the miracle begins here. Not with bread, but with compassion.”
Archbishop García-Siller recalled the community around Notre Dame coming together during the recent floods and the 2025 flood.
‘Our hearts overflow with love, care’
“We shared what we have, who we are, and there were limitations. Though (they are) small baskets, by God’s presence in our lives and reading God’s plan that goes beyond, the moment our baskets have blended: abundance. Our hearts overflow with love, care, understanding,” he said.
Father Joshua Whitfield of St. Rita Catholic Community in north Dallas was also struck by the way his parish community came together after the loss of their parishioners’ children and parents.
RJ and Annie Harber’s daughters, Blair and Brooke, ages 13 and 11 respectively, drowned in last year’s flood. The sisters were found 15 miles away from their cabin holding hands. RJ Harber’s parents, who were with the girls in the cabin, also died. The Harbers were staying in a separate cabin nearby when the flood waters started their rapid upsurge.
Father Whitfield called the year since their deaths “very painful and beautiful.”
‘Trying to find a new normal with young people’
“Trying to remember, and trying to find a new normal with our young people and our students, and balancing remembrance with living life: That’s been the key in the challenge,” Father Whitfield told OSV News. “Trying to do that while leaving no one behind. And helping people heal at their own pace and in their own healthy way.”
He said, “The center of it, of course, is the Harber family, Annie and RJ. They’ve been with us all along and we’ve been with them and that’s looked like all kinds of support, from the practical to simple friendship and care. We have parishioners, too, who are with them every day, walking through the neighborhood, and we are with them on their healing journey when it comes to mental health and things like that.”
Father Whitfield, who became a Catholic priest under a Vatican provision allowing the ordination of married men who formerly served as Episcopalian clergy, is married with children close to the age of the Harbers’ daughters. His daughter was a student of Annie Harber, who taught at the parish school. (Father Whitfield said, after taking the year off since her children’s deaths, Annie Harber was preparing to go back to the classroom).
‘Faith in God and in each other’
Father Whitfield said the beauty that came out of the tragedy was the strong reliance of the church community on “faith in God and in each other.”
The “second beautiful” aspect, he said, was most evident in a simple act of two classmates of Brooke, rising seventh graders, “who came into the church everyday to light a candle, and to pray for Brooke and Blair.”
He said, “This tragedy has made the faith less a sentimental thing and more a real thing. I’ve seen that in so many of us, and it’s a beautiful thing.”
Simone Orendain is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Chicago.
