My brothers and sisters, as we move into our first weekend without public Mass, I think this might be the strangest and most challenging time for many of us. I want to offer some tips to help you survive and even flourish in this time. This is a long-ish email, so go grab a beverage. I'll wait.   ...   You back? Ok, it looks like we'll be at this for a while, so please allow me to speak into your spiritual health. If it were only a couple weekends without Mass, we could just put our heads down and wait for it to be over. With no real answers about how long this will last, each of us need a spiritual plan. Normally the Mass is the anchor of our lives, but for now we need to make other plans. You're going to be away too long to do nothing. Your children are going to be away too long for you to do nothing for them.

 

Someone found a cloistered nun to give us some tips for social distancing. She points out that normally we have a rule of life, a structure imposed on our life in the form of a job or school that forces us to live according to a schedule, and how that's a good thing. In the absence of that, we have to create a new, self-imposed structure. When we're spending more time than normal with our families, we have to consciously reach out in love and we cannot isolate ourselves from them. And when we lose the Mass, normally the anchor of our spiritual life, we have to create new spiritual norms. Our diocese has already compiled some resources to help you to meditate on the scripture readings with your children. I highly recommend you look them up.   Here's a model I suggest for how to pray as a family on Sunday: On Sunday, gather your family. You don't need to dress up, but don't be in pajamas. Put your favorite cross and religious images in the center of your space.  First, open with prayer. If you want to kneel before the cross, it can be helpful to incorporate our bodies in worship. I recommend opening with THIS prayer from the USCCB. Then, sit on your couches and read the readings of the Mass out loud. Listen to a homily online if you want. Spend some time in quiet meditation. Discuss the readings as a family (this might be the most unique but most profitable part of the whole experience). Then, make your own prayers of intercession to God, perhaps everyone gathered can make their own petition out loud. Then, make a spiritual communion. Spiritual communion is a prayer expressing your desire to receive Jesus in the Eucharist when you cannot attend Mass. The Archdiocese of New York has a good explanation and example HERE. Spend a few quiet moments of thanksgiving after your spiritual communion, and then compose your own closing prayer, and end with the sign of the cross as you say, "May almighty God bless us and keep us, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.   So, in summary, my recommendation: 1. Gather and kneel before your favorite cross, recite the prayer from the USCCB. 2. Sit and read the readings out loud. 3. Listen to a homily online. 4. Meditate quietly on the readings for just a few minutes. 5. Discuss the readings. 6. Make prayers of intercession to God. 7. Make a spiritual communion. 8. Closing prayer.   This would work whether your family or quarantine unit is big or small. Someone commented that this is an opportunity to teach their children about the Mass because when they're watching it online or on television, they can explain things in a way that they can't when they're sitting in a pew. I thought that was a good idea as well. Some families may want to pray a Rosary. Each of are called to turn our homes and families into the "domestic church" anyway, and this is a fantastic opportunity to jump-start that process. We know that a relationship with God is important, but too often we just go to Mass in order to let the priest take care of that for us. We know we should pray, so we let the priest pray for us. Now, we are each being called upon to take ownership of that relationship and that prayer for ourselves.   A few other notes:   -Please be mindful of any homebound parishioners you know, or any parishioners without internet. Keep them updated on what's going on in our parish.   -We are printing a bulletin this weekend. They will be in the back of the church, so consider stopping off and picking one up for a homebound friend.   -All the information in the bulletin is mirrored from the website, so if you're reading it on the website or on flocknote, you don't need a bulletin for yourself. It's only needed for sharing with the homebound.   Again, I am holding each of you in prayer each and every day. By Christ's help, we will come through this stronger than we were before, as a society and as a Church. Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us!   -Fr. Brian