Everything is so strange. Who can wrap their heads around what is happening right now in the world?!
And now Masses have been cancelled in many dioceses around the United States, including here in the Archdiocese of NY.
You must understand that I love the Eucharist, and Sunday Mass is my favorite part of the week. Without Mass, and receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, I don’t know what I would do.
Yet, I can understand this directive. I am one of those in the at risk population due to immunosupressing medication. I am grateful that this action is being taken. You can disagree with me. Many people do.
But my dear Catholics, here’s a different perspective. This pandemic is our Three Days!
We are living the three days from Jesus’ death on Good Friday until His Resurrection.
This could be our best Lent ever because it is so very, very real right now. We are living a form of Holy Week.
2000 years ago, Jesus knew He was going to His death and leaving His disciples behind, who didn’t understand what was to happen. He knew they needed strengthening, so He instituted Holy Communion.
Wednesday morning at daily Mass was the last time I received Holy Communion. I was running so late that I barely made it for the Gospel. I was actually going to sit out for reception of Communion, but something inside me urged me to receive. I had this feeling that this might be the last time for a while.
That was my Last Supper.
When was the last time you received Holy Communion? Imagine for now that this was your Last Supper.
And just as He left the disciples over 2000 years ago, now Our Lord is gone from us also.
We are living Holy Week right now.
We have an amazing opportunity right now, if we choose to look at it that way. We can walk the way of the cross!
We are being asked to sacrifice our comfort for the greater good. We are being asked to sacrifice our desires and wants for the little ones among us, those at risk of contracting the virus.
But now we are also being told that we can’t be close to our Lord. We can’t receive Holy Communion at Mass!
It is a suffering for sure. Let us embrace our suffering. We can live like those who actually lived the way of the cross.
I don’t know what this will look like for you.
Maybe you’ll be like our Blessed Mother, mothering all those around you, taking care of those who need it. Maybe, like the women of Jerusalem, we can console our Lord, this time through our prayer.
Maybe you’re a St. John standing at the foot of the cross. It seems to me this could be what He’s calling our priests to do – sit at the foot of the cross for us, for your people who can’t be there. Pray Holy Hours for us. Sit with Jesus for us.
Whatever we can do in this time to embrace the suffering, we are being called to do so. Carry the cross!
This can be the hour in which we live as Christ, dying to ourselves for the sake of the rest of the world.
What if this could be humanity’s finest hour?
Think of all the graces that we can rain down upon the earth right now through our sacrifice.
When Jesus was crucified and for three days was gone from the earth, it appeared that Satan had won. It seemed like all hope was gone. The Savior was dead and everything was over. The Apostles didn’t know the ending of the story. They didn’t know the emptiness ended with the empty tomb.
Satan didn’t win then and he’s not winning now!
We know the ending. We know that on the third day Jesus rose again from the dead. Hell shall not prevail!
Let us live these “three days” as best as we can. Walk the way of the cross. Embrace the darkness because that’s the only thing that lead us to the Light.
We can weep like St. Mary Magdalene because we do not know where they have taken Our Lord. But Jesus comes to her and He will come to us. Let us remember that Jesus has risen. We have all seen the Risen Lord.
So let us also be like St. John, and run to the empty tomb. Let us run to Easter!
And never ever let us forget the time we walked in the darkness when we were separated from Our Blessed Lord.
