Saint Mary’s parish Msgr. Michael Rose prepares to stream an online mass with the church’s temple empty due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic | Photo courtesy of Shrewsbury Saint Mary’s parishBy Juan Perfetti – Editor.
Starting with Palm Sunday, Holy Week attracts to church probably the biggest crowds of the year. But not this year.
Less than a month has passed since an official State of Emergency was declared in the United States of America due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that started in the city of Wuhan, communist China. However, the changes we have experienced feel hard, especially when ancient rituals like Easter cannot be performed in touch with the community.
Yet as these are hard times, if there is something that could define the Christian community is its resilience. From the Catacombs of the Roman Empire to become the largest religion on the planet, Christians prevail on its faith.
A local family participates in Palm Sunday mass led by Msgr. Michael Rose streamed through the Internet | Photo courtesy of Saint Mary’s ParishIn Shrewsbury Saint Mary’s parish, for example, the church has been using a highly polished Media Ministry to stream the masses regularly. The congregation is also using the potential of social media services like Facebook to connect and interact with parishioners, who even share their photos participating in the mass from home.
Among other things, priests are providing drive-up confessions, and parishioners have organized to continue assisting the needy. All of these, while strictly following the government guidance of social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus.
As difficult a “socially distant” Easter might be, it is already showing the critical role that religious organizations play in every community, especially in moments of crisis.
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