Catching up with Father Tom

I never thought that when Lent started several weeks ago, the entire world would enter into the solitude of the desert as Christ did long ago when he went into the wilderness to pray and was tempted by the devil. He was in solitude for 40 days. We’ve been in it for a few weeks now and, probably, for several weeks more. Lent has always been a time to cut down on the distractions and the flurry of everyday life in order to pray more, to keep silence, to meditate and to get our hearts ready for the yearly celebration of the Paschal Triduum. Little did I know a month ago that the Coronavirus and the directives of our government to stay home would put the brakes on everyday life so completely that the world would be “forced” to slow down and enter into a new kind of Lent.

Certainly, I wish that that could have been accomplished for purely religious motives, without this awful threat of illness hanging over our heads. However, it is here, even if for a different reason. We’re all in it and it appears all of us are trying to make the best of it in spite of its novelty. We’re doing our part and are in a more reflective, slower and simple time whether we like it or not.

During these days, I’ve been praying more, reading more, writing more, calling friends and parishioners on the phone and sharing emails and catching up on the administrative work of the parish. I also am thanking God we live with the benefit of WIFI, social media and internet! I’ve often excoriated the overuse and misuse of social media, but the blessing of it is making much easier for most of us.

I want to encourage all of you to use these quieter days for spiritual growth too. A few days ago, I watched a great video on YouTube by David Suchet, the television actor who played Poirot [www.youtube.com/watch?v+JjOgcMQXvSc]. A few years ago, he was invited to read the entire Gospel of St. Mark in a Cathedral in Australia during Lent. His faith, accent and his gifts as an actor made the two-hour reading a deeply spiritual experience! What a gift it was to hear his well-received rendition. See if you can access it too!

Most of us don’t grow in the spiritual life as we should because we’re not readers. I don’t want to seem elitist here but that is the simple truth. Use some of this quiet time for spiritual reading. Hopefully, each Catholic home has a Bible and a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on a bookshelf. But go on Amazon and order some recent Catholic publications which can easily be delivered to your home. I’m reading the life of St. Junipera Serra which I picked up before the quarantine. It’s fascinating and inspiring. There are countless new books about the Faith and exemplary Catholics that will enrich during this time so unexpectedly allotted to us.

Most of you also know about FORMED [formed.org]. The app is easy to download. All sorts of recent films, Catholic teaching sessions and family entertainment is available for free. Holy Mass is being televised every day on EWTN. Our Holy Father is also streaming his daily Mass from St. Martha’s residence in the Vatican daily on EWTN [www.ewtn.com]. It airs very late at night but you can set your DVR to record it and view it the next day. No pomp, no lengthy teachings, just the Holy Father in the small chapel of his residence. What a gift and an intimate experience with our Holy Father.

A few people have asked me if I might stream Mass celebrated by me for our parish. At this time, I’d rather not. I’m saying Mass every day privately – for parish intentions and other needs. But there are now so many Masses online, on Facebook and on TV, that I’m not sure one more would help. To stay in contact with all of you is important to me and I’ll continue to do so in the weeks ahead. I plan to do this via the weekly bulletin, on Facebook and through mailings.

The Diocese has not yet determined whether or not we’ll be gathering for Holy Week services and the Paschal Triduum. My guess, at this time, is that we probably won’t be free of the virus by then. Staying at home and observing these great feast days will be very different for all of us. However, we’ll observe them and enter into the greatness of each in other ways. I plan to send some blessed palm branches home to you in the mail soon with another letter and update from me.

I recommend that you subscribe one of several good resources for following the Readings and prayers of the Mass at home. A good one is called “Magnificat." [us.magnificat.net] There are also other good ones, like “Living Bread." [livingbread.org] These will be delivered at home and you can follow the liturgies for each day of the week, Sundays and the great feasts to come. Get access to how to subscribe on line.

Governor Cuomo’s newest directives have made it impossible for us to offer “parking lot Confessions” as we had planned. I’m a bit disappointed but we defer to his guidance and leadership in this case. Remember that when Sacramental Confession cannot be offered in the event of a crisis or lack of the availability of priests, the Catechism teaches that anyone in mortal sin should follow this protocol: sincere repentance for the sin, willingness to sin no more and to ask the Lord in prayer for forgiveness. This and the promise to get to Confession to a priest at the very first opportunity, suffices during the interim to gain God’s mercy. This protocol is the extraordinary way to receive God’s mercy and should not be used when things are “normal” again. In normal times, we use the standard and ordinary way to receive forgiveness from mortal sin and that requires Confession to a priest.

God Bless all this morning!