In last weeks message, I spoke about the formational and entertainment
opportunities on formed.org. As we experience Holy Week and Easter this year, we
have some truly novel possibilities. As the “Safe at Home” order is still in place, we
won’t be able to celebrate the great mysteries of this time together.
These are the most important days of the year for us in the practice of our faith
and, consequently, in our eternal salvation. God has so many amazing graces in store
for us as we seek to immerse ourselves into these celebrations. It will certainly be more
challenging in some respects due to our social distancing and that we can’t feel so
palpably the support of our community and be strengthened by their good witness and
example. On the other hand, as we are celebrating virtually, we have the opportunity to
adjust the celebrations to our personal schedule and even to repeat them if we so
desire. One of the constant teachings of the Church is that the sacrifice of Christ was
so perfect that it won for us a superabundance of graces for the salvation of all of
mankind. To take advantage of this wealth of graces we must seek them out, ask for
them, and encounter the Lord in worship, which makes our souls able to receive and
process these graces.

With the restrictions we have to protect ourselves and others from the Corona
Virus, our mode of worship has changed, but its content is the same. It may take more
effort on our part to concentrate during the celebrations because we will be at home and
not in the church. We will have to try to put ourselves in the presence of God and bring
ourselves to a more prayerful and meditative place. So it will help a lot if we pray before
we participate in the celebrations in order to receive the graces God wants to give us,
even though we are celebrating virtually. The Rosary is a great prayer to help us clear
our minds and settle our hearts, and doing some reading of scripture can also be very
useful. God wants us to experience the fullness of His love, mercy and grace and He
can deliver these in the church building or in our homes now, due to the situation, as
long as we have the proper dispositions. Let’s try to see the glass half full and still get
the very most out of these days as we can. May God Bless all of you!