Great Lent is always a time of extra temptations. For some families, the temptations are greater than others. On Sunday night, a Greek Orthodox priest died in a tragic car accident while driving home from Vespers with his children. Fr. Matthew Baker was thrown from his car after it tumbled several times, but somehow (by a miracle) his children were all ok.
Fr. Matthew leaves behind not only his wife, Presbytera Katherine, but SIX young children, all ages 12 and under. Truly, this is an enormous tragedy. I have not been able to get this family out of my head since I heard about this horrible news. According to many, Fr. Matthew was truly a giving soul, a person who was not only an intellectual but a true person of God. One person put it so beautifully "the world lost someone it was desperately in need of."
The main thing this family, especially Presbytera Katherine needs, is of course, prayer. But in terms of material needs, there has been a fund established to help this family survive, as they have lived in poverty for many years and have no material goods. They had just moved into their first rental home as he had JUST started receiving his first priestly salary on his first parish.
PLEASE, please, reach into the depths of your heart and into your bank account if you can, and make a donation to this family who is so much in need of our help right now. Click here to go to the page where you can not only safely donate whatever amount you'd like, but also follow along with the donations and updates (frequent ones) about this family and their status.
May Fr. Matthew's memory be eternal, and may God send peace, blessings, and most importantly, strength to Presbytera Katherine and her six beautiful children at this extremely difficult time for them.
PS: I had asked a few friends where Pres. Katherine was during the accident out of curiosity...and was deeply saddened to find out that she had been at home resting after just having suffered a stillbirth of their 7th child at 17 weeks of pregnancy. This poor woman really needs our prayers!
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