Dear Parishioners 3-14-2020

3/14/20

Dear Parishioners,

          I am not publishing a homily this weekend, but I did want to offer a few reflections.  I would state the obvious. We are going through some trying times.  As a pastor I feel sad about the inability to celebrate Mass with you this weekend.  I would feel that we all need spiritual sustenance at this most difficult.  Never in my priestly life have I not been able to celebrate Mass for my parishioners on a Sunday.  Through wars, deaths and natural disasters Christian communities that I have been a part of have been able to come together to receive the grace of the Eucharist.

          We could debate whether the extreme measures we are taking are necessary.  We might also ask how we would feel if our congregation came together as some churches have and a life-threatening virus was passed around among us.  I don’t know about you, but I would feel terrible. What is the right course?  That is an open question.

          I try to remember today that there are many Christian communities throughout the world who cannot celebrate Mass.  I think of all those Syrian Christians for example who are fleeing for their lives. People who have had their Churches and homes destroyed because of war and bigotry and now live as refugees looking for a haven. People who live in temporary shelters in the freezing cold.  I say to myself as the melancholy Irish would say, “It could always be worse.”

          I was watching the news Friday night and Judy Woodruff made a personal comment at the end. She observed that people need to look at things in a different way if we are going to make it through the difficult times were in.  Instead of looking out for ourselves by going to the store to load up on hand sanitizer and toilet paper we need to look out for our neighbor.  Maybe we can call up an elderly neighbor and ask them, “Do you have what you need?”  And then we need to fill a box with our extra supplies and take them over to our neighbor.  Another commentator said that we should have a shortage of aluminum pans right now because we should be fixing meals and taking them to those in quarantine.  Most of us have far more we need to survive.

          St. Basil the Great once said:

          “When someone steals another’s clothes, we call them a thief.

          Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the

          naked and does not?  The bread in your cupboard belongs to the

          hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who

          needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who

          has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the

          poor.”

          This is a moment to practice our Christianity in new and creative ways.  We all must reflect our situation and ask how we can show charity in the present moment. 

          I heard a priest once describe love as putting another’s needs ahead of our own.  We are going to be challenged in the days ahead to love as Jesus loved.  This is the true cross we are asked to take up right now.  Let us pray that we will put our faith into practice and that we will share communion again soon.

                                                                       Fr. Mark