Peace and Good in Christ!

As dioceses and states around the nation consider a deliberately cautious and phased reopening, we are hopeful that things get back to “normal.” But before we move too fast let’s consider valuable lessons learned during this pandemic crisis.

These have been tough times. COVID-19 has taken the lives of many precious souls, and appeared to shut down much of our Church around the world, as well as the world’s economy. Many grieve the loss of ready access to the community of the Church and actual reception Eucharist. No doubt, this is a trial for untold millions.

But, as the old saying goes, “every dark cloud has a silver lining.” This pandemic does as well. It doesn’t ignore the serious reality of the dark cloud. But it doesn’t only dwell on the darkness. It sees the silver lining as well.

What are some of the silver linings for Catholic Christians?

As a monastic, these times of isolation without unnecessary outside trips, or visitors, guests, and retreatants at the Monastery, have given us greater time for prayer, community, and creative apostolic work that can be done without going out. It’s making us better monastics.

But it applies to families as well.

It helps us rediscover the reality of the domestic church in the nuclear family. Catholic teaching emphasizes that the domestic family is the most primary expression of the Catholic Church, while the parish remains the primary expression for the reception of most sacraments.  Sheltering in place forces us to spend time together. Families are sharing daily meals, something long absent from most modern homes. Instead of taking the Eucharist for granted as we shuffle off to the parish on busy freeways and streets, we are praying together as families in our homes. And the streaming Masses become special gifts that connect us from the isolation of our homes with our parish and global Christian community.

Great theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas said that in extraordinary times when we really cannot get to Mass, spiritual Communion is just as valid as actual reception of the Eucharist under ordinary circumstances. And in the recent past, many Catholic cultures have had to go decades without reception of the Eucharist in times of persecution, yet remained faithful Catholics, and after the persecution came back stronger than ever. Receiving Spiritual Communion instead of physical reception in the parish helps us rediscover the spiritual aspect to our Eucharist. As Catholics we believe that the Word was made flesh in Jesus, and is brought to us in the mystery of the Eucharist, where the Body and Blood of Christ is truly present.
 
But often we have lapsed from the beauty of “incarnation” to a simply ”carnal” experience of the Eucharist. It’s a subtle difference, but very real none the less. Both incarnation and carnal include “carne,” or flesh. But one includes the Spirit, and the other doesn’t, at least insofar as our personal experience is concerned. The Church teaches that we must have Spirit, Word, and Sacrament for our Eucharist to be complete and fully alive. So often we forget to really be open to the first two. We often lose the truly spiritual aspect to our Communion. This is a great time to rediscover it! 

But, there is more. As the old saying goes, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” And as Catholic mystics have said regarding times of trial and darkness, when a nursing child stops feeding attentively, the mother will withdraw her breast for a while until the child takes nursing seriously again. The same is true for the Eucharist.


And we are rediscovering the power of the priesthood of believers. Though we deeply love and appreciate our ordained priests as special gifts of God, this time away from them has forced us to rediscover the priesthood of every Christian in Christ, the great and eternal High Priest. Are we really offering our daily sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise in our life? Are we ministering to those closest to us in our spiritual and nuclear families? Sometimes in relying too much on our ordained priests, we forget our own priesthood. When we really know that then we will appreciate our ordained priests even more.

Then there is “getting back to basics.” Some sociologists have predicted that this is only the beginning for America and the developed nations of the world. I hope that’s not true. But really, what would we do without the things to which we have grown so accustomed? What if the food chain really broke? What if electricity and gas, air conditioning and heat, just to name a few, were suddenly unavailable? What would we do?

Many would truly suffer. Others would adapt or die. That would be gut wrenchingly hard. But, I am reminded of St. Francis who overcame the curse of poverty by joyously running towards and embracing it as a means to closer communion with Christ crucified and risen. Consequently, he was truly free. Maybe God is asking us to really simplify again as well. Then we can be truly free in Him.

I know that our little monastic community will never be the same. God has gotten our attention, and we are at least beginning to really listen. I truly hope and pray we don’t fall back into life as “usual” when the usual is often falls so wide off the mark of God’s call for us.

I pray the same holds true for you and yours.

So, as churches open up around our nation, let’s not forget the lessons we have learned. Let us grieve the loss of lives, wellness, and economic prosperity for millions. But let us rejoice in being brought back from the craziness of so much of modern life to real gospel basics in Christ once more. Then we will have found the silver lining to this terribly dark cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic.

John Michael Talbot
Founder and General Minister
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity
Little Portion Hermitage
 
www.JohnMichaelTalbot.com