Suffice it to say, this just might be the strangest Holy Week most of us will ever experience.  I know that some of our parishioners know people who have been directly impacted by the coronavirus.  But even for those who haven’t, the experience of being under a stay-at-home order is a drastically different experience for most of us.

From a faith standpoint, it seems even more disheartening that this experience includes Holy Week.  Holy Week is a climax of the liturgical year.  Especially if we’ve been really committed to our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, Holy Week is a time when we Catholics have our game faces on!  We begin the week with Palm Sunday, recalling the Lord’s Passion and receiving blessed palms that we keep in our homes for the whole year.  And that all leads up to the true high point of the year, the Sacred Triduum, where we journey with the Lord from the Last Supper on Holy Thursday, through His Passion and death on Good Friday, all leading up to His triumphant Resurrection from the dead at the Easter Vigil and the other Easter Masses.  From the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, to the veneration of the cross on Good Friday, to the baptism of our elect at the Easter Vigil, there are so many things that we will miss out on.  We could certainly be excused for thinking that it doesn’t “feel” like Holy Week.

But (without trying to make too much lemonade, here…) perhaps this situation is an opportunity to enter into Holy Week in a new and different way.  Perhaps the feeling of being stuck in our homes can help us understand how the Apostles felt, […]

It is strange to write this bulletin column knowing that almost no one will read it in print.  We’re about a week-and-a-half into our parish closure, and I think most of us would say that this is unlike anything we’ve experienced before.  For many of our parishioners who work in health care, they are working overtime at a breakneck pace.  For others, they are largely confined to their homes.  Either way, I doubt there are any of us who haven’t been seriously affected; every one of us certainly has an extra cross to carry this Lent.

And yet, even with all of the distress that the Cross carries, I’ve been in a privileged position to see this ordeal bring out a lot of good in us.  So many people have let me know how painful it is to be deprived of the Mass, and as painful as that is, it’s also been inspiring to see the deep love that so many of you have for the Mass and the Eucharist.  It’s a powerful reminder to me that when I’m praying my Mass in private each day, that I’m praying it with and for each of you who can’t join me in person.

I’ve also witnessed an awful lot of good in different exchanges I’ve had with parishioners who have dealt with this crisis in some powerful ways.  We have parishioners who have set routines of daily prayer with their spouse or family, far beyond what they’d ever done before.  We have parishioners who are reaching out to others who might be alone or anxious.  We have parishioners who’ve searched for creative ways to help other people, even with the restrictions we have on our movement.  We have […]