Two decades ago, a late Archdiocese of Louisville priest, Father Kevin Caster, wrote about conditions in Haiti following a visit. At the time Haiti was undergoing one of the periods of political and governmental upheaval that has marked much of its history.

Father Caster, who died in 1997 and who had lived and worked in Haiti at various times in the 1960s and 1970s, wrote in a 1990 article in The Record, “Perhaps there are no solutions in this scarred land of paradoxes. ... Let us hope that isn’t the case. Let us hope that there will always be some of us who love Haiti enough to reach out to her, to help in whatever way we can this desperate land that time has all but forgotten. With God’s help maybe we can bring back some of the lost faith and battered hope.”

These words have taken on a new level of meaning today as the suffering people of Haiti face perhaps their greatest crisis, their greatest hour of peril and need, following the Jan. 12 magnitude 7 earthquake that directly affected 3 million or so people, about a third of the country’s population.

If the people of Haiti ever needed to be loved by others, if they ever needed help, if they ever were in need of hope, it is now. If we ever thought about the implications of Jesus’ words — “whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me” — we have the answer in Haiti.

Vincentian Father David O’Connell, president of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., said at a Jan. 14 campus Mass: “We could not possibly explain why or how in the providence of God things like the earthquake in Haiti happen — the loss of life, the catastrophic destruction and devastation that has occurred there — no one can. But we can explain why and how we must respond. ... We know what we need to do.”

One immediate thing we need to do is make donations for relief assistance to reputable organizations, such as Catholic Relief Services, the official aid agency of the U.S. Catholic Church that is coordinating the church’s relief and recovery efforts in Haiti. This is already underway. People have made contributions in church collections and individually. Catholic schools in the Louisville archdiocese also have held or will be holding similar collections for Haiti.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has begun relief work in Haiti and has made an initial $25 million commitment. Individuals can contribute to CRS’ relief and recovery efforts by sending donations to: Catholic Charities of Louisville, Haitian Earthquake, 2911 S. Fourth St., Louisville, Ky. 40208. Contributions also can be made directly to CRS through its Web site (www.crs.org) or by mail to: Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, Md. 21203-7090.

While the immediate need is evident, recovery from the earthquake will be a long-term effort that will need continued support for the work of organizations such as CRS as well as assistance from our government and the world community. It will be a monumental undertaking to rebuild Haiti and to sustain the lives of its people. This is not going to be a quick, in-and-out relief and recovery effort, but one that will require a commitment for years to come. We all must be prepared for what it will take to reconstruct Haiti and its people’s lives.

The relief and recovery work in Haiti is magnified by the severe poverty of the Caribbean island nation. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and the Haitian people have suffered for many years from political oppression and upheaval, health crises, food shortages and devastating hurricanes. The Jan. 12 earthquake compounded the multitude of problems the country faces.

Another ongoing and long-term recovery effort that church communities can consider is entering into twinning or sister-parish relationships with churches in Haiti. Several parishes in the Louisville archdiocese have had sister-parish relationships in Haiti for some years. These relationships are ways for U.S. churches to support struggling Haitian parishes, to show solidarity with the people and to foster understanding.

One way to develop a sister-parish relationship is through the Parish Twinning Programs of the Americas, a non-profit Catholic organization based in Nashville, Tenn., that was started in 1968.

Our suffering brothers and sisters in Haiti need our love, support and prayers. They cannot be forgotten any longer.