Houston Vietnamese deal with loss of bus crash victims

This morning's Houston Chronicle offers a thorough look at the bus accident that killed 15 en route to Marian Days in Carthage. The article gives a heartwrenching description of the accident scene, information on the investigation, and the reaction of Houston's Vietnamese community:

Back in Houston, where both churches held somber Masses Friday evening, Wendy Ta, a young volunteer at Vu's southeast Houston church, busied herself tying yellow ribbons around magnolia and palm trees and on the church's brick columns as well.

"This is to welcome the deceased home, those who have passed away," Ta explained. "They're home now, with their Father."

Mass at Vietnamese Martyrs Church was celebrated by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who spoke to reporters about how local churches are helping friends and parishioners who knew those who died or were injured in the crash.

"It's incomprehensible," DiNardo said of the accident, "but I always think of when our Christ was dying on the cross, he didn't say a lot. But what he taught is to have a great trust in the Lord even when things don't make sense."

Such a tragedy, the cardinal said, reinforces the transience of life and the need to be prepared for death.