Early Monday morning, a guy drove through the front door of Our Lady of Lavang Catholic church and proceeded to do donuts all over the pews. (He turned himself in after driving off.)
They did not reschedule Christmas Eve Mass– because a bunch of people showed up with plywood and cleaning gear, and someone donated folding chairs to replace the pews. (I don’t know if it’s a loan or for good, but wow.)
The culprit ought to be made to pay for the damage.
“One parishioner said “My faith is stronger because of this”
(Having witnessed the quick response to make ready the celebrations to come…Holy Mass.)
Thanks be to God that this “guy” didn’t pull off his stunt when the pews were full.
He, Phoung, didn’t make his 12/26 court appearance because he was in the hospital. The damage occurred at 0015 on the 23rd. Also his arrest. His children receive Viet-Namese language lessons at that church. The parish is very tight knit as one would expect since the boat people were the founders. Sounds like there’s more to the story.
Cam-
From our (much missed) Washington parish, and talking to guys in the Navy, I’m pretty sure there was ‘family stress’ involved– he’s in his 30s, that’s about the time that the rough parts of figuring out boundaries of “my kids are adults” but “those are still my parents” can get painful. For folks who didn’t have a family member that works hard to communicate stuff, or if one of the parties refuses to accept changes/responsibility, it gets painful.
And yes, I did describe about 90% of any friction between people who care for each other, there.
I “get” to watch a lot of my Navy buddies go through this; frequently, I agree with their parents, which doesn’t help matters.
I’m hoping that the mental health hold was because someone in law enforcement realized there is a serious risk that a guy with this kind of impulse issues would do himself serious harm, especially if family is involved.