Not a single person at St. Patrick Parish in Rochelle had to think about what to pray for as they gathered for Masses last weekend. The EF-4 tornado and record breaking severe storms that struck their community and others in northern Illinois on April 9 were still fresh on everyone’s mind.

But a surprise visit by Bishop David Malloy helped parishioners make a little sense of their prayers and find the mercy of God in the midst of lots of loss.

As early reports of damage reached the Diocesan Administration Center from Father Donald Ahles in Genoa and Father Johnson Lopez in Rochelle, Bishop Malloy decided early on Friday to ask the 105 parishes in the Rockford Diocese to take up a second collection for those affected by the storms.

However, that wasn’t enough. What do you do when you don’t know what to do? You pray.

So, after getting regular updates from Catholic Charities staff and the media, Bishop Malloy told The Observer Friday that he needed to pray with the people. The bishop let Father Lopez know he would travel to Rochelle and celebrate the regular Saturday 5 p.m. Mass.

People gathered as they always do at the parish to pray, to give thanks and share sorrows and celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. Some people were surprised to see the bishop. Some knew of his unscheduled visit because they saw a parish Facebook post.

Surprised or not, all appreciated his presence and his prayers and told him so in a long greeting line after Mass.

“What a week this has been,” Bishop Malloy said after the opening hymn which drew a collective sigh of agreement.

Bishop Malloy recounted that the National Weather Service reported that the tornado that ripped through the Rochelle area stayed on the ground for nearly 28 miles, reached winds of more than 200 miles per hour, was responsible for two deaths, injuries to 20 people, damage to about 100 properties in Rochelle and Fairdale and caused disruption and suffering to many.

He began his homily talking about Divine Mercy Sunday, which draws thoughts to Christ’s rising from the dead and, “... His great victory over sin, death and even Satan himself.

“In the midst of that mercy we have this past week in its rather frightening context,” Bishop Malloy said.

He asked all to continue to pray, as he has done, for the repose of the souls of the victims of the storm, Jacklyn Klosa and Geraldine Schultz and “the people who mourn them, family members, their close friends and so on. It may be that we never met them but we have all gone through this certain experience that reminds us of how interconnected we all are,” he said.

Bishop Malloy also asked for prayers for all those who lost homes, businesses, material possessions, pets, and more.

He went on to remind everyone that even though this was a week of loss and suffering, there are lessons to be learned and signs of God’s mercy.

Bishop Malloy referred to the responsorial Pslam 118, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good, His love is everlasting,” asking people in the midst of their fresh and painful challenges brought forth by the storm, to pause and recall the ways we see God’s goodness, mercy and love.

“There is an element of God’s mercy we can see in this past week. It reminds us that we live in a world given to us by God. Moments like this bring out an opportunity for the best in us.

“It is an opportunity to serve and bind up the wounds and sorrows,” he said.

He added that the second collection was also a way to serve one another.

“The road back to recovery is long. The road back has its challenges. But we begin here with prayer, with a reaffirmation to the fact that God is merciful, a recommitment of our own love for each other and the recognition that whatever the difficulties, whatever the sorrows and whatever the mysteries of looking at what has happened this past week, we can see them all in the context of our faith and recognize that we do, in fact, give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His love is everlasting.

Something about this is a help for us in our faith on our road to Him,” Bishop Malloy concluded.

After Mass, Bishop Malloy and Father Lopez greeted parishioners and then visited the Rochelle subdivisions damaged by the tornado.