My dispensation from my Sunday Mass obligation was lifted, effective Palm Sunday. Bishop Hicks of my home Diocese of Joliet wrote that, with the end of mask mandates and the easing of social gathering restrictions, it is time to reinstate the obligation of Catholics in our diocese to attend Sunday Mass.
This ends a weird and wild two-year period in which Catholics, on a wide scale, were not expected to be at Sunday Mass. And the only time during my life when I ever missed Mass, for any reason, on consecutive weeks, let alone for months on end.
I appreciate the way Bishop Hicks shared his decision. First, he noted the perennial canonical exception from obligation for those who are ill or contagious; I think gaining awareness of this exception is a blessing of the pandemic, perhaps inviting greater sensitivity from me in the future about caring for my neighbors instead insisting on going to Mass unless I’m in the hospital or something. Additionally, Bishop Hicks emphasized the joy of a community reuniting, and doing so for such a special purpose as communion in Mass. And he identified our return to full Sunday celebrations as a “welcome home.” Amen, bishop.
Bishop Ron Hicks holds a special place in his heart for St. Oscar Romero. As we celebrate Romero’s feast day, learn more about this humble archbishop from El Salvador and why he ranks among our bishop’s heroes.
— Diocese of Joliet (@DioceseofJoliet) March 24, 2022
WATCH the video: https://t.co/IlD13wG3UZ pic.twitter.com/HVk5K1uz9F
Here's our guy, Bishop Ronald Hicks.
One area of liturgical life that gained major exposure was the simulcast Mass. With congregations unable to gather in person, parishes largely turned to live-streaming and recording, such that they could keep their parishioners engaged remotely. Cathedrals and major churches that had already been doing this for years seemed ahead of the curve, and may have won greater viewership by having higher production values and wider-reaching broadcast channels already in place. Some young adults I worked with asked some religious priests to do a Mass over Zoom, not just to give them a more intimate, familiar group but also to maintain some level of interaction – speaking responses, doing communal petitions at the Prayers of the Faithful, and faith-sharing after Mass.
While televised Mass has been a staple of ministry to the ill and homebound – who would also receive hospitality visits with the Eucharist – it threw most of us into the deep end without experience. And personally, I was not a fan. Early on, when it was new and I thought it may be short-lived, I certainly tuned in, especially during Lent and Easter. However, I came to find it largely unfulfilling, maybe a commentary both on the incompleteness of the medium and of me. I didn’t feel drawn to speak the responses or sit and stand and kneel or pray along with the songs or to thoughtfully pray for spiritual communion; I couldn’t figure out how to engage and let it fade from practice. I can’t crawl into my kids’ heads, but my older daughter could only really stick with it for a short time before losing track.
It challenged me to feel greater empathy for the homebound and ill, who might only engage with liturgy in this way. It left me wondering what better ways could be found, if any. And it pointed me toward growing hunger to return to the Mass in the before-times way – spoken congregational responses, even if murmured; the sung prayers and hymns, even if off-key; and the communal presence of the church, even if haggard and half-assed. It has been a blessing to get back to the routine of Sunday mornings, and I’ve relished bringing my family back to our pews.
As we returned to the parish though, it has definitely gotten me wondering on the perennial questions that are only more acute now. How will we cover budget shortfalls that aren’t recovering? How can we reanimate lapsed community life? What is/will be my role in this? How can I try to be more active? To what extent do we get engaged in our school and/or RE program?
For starters, I was able to attend an in-person listening session for young adults that my parish held as part of our synod gatherings. In addition to providing input to the prompts, I also got to meet a member of the parish council and share some of my hopes for fellowship among parents and families. One of my ideas has been to copy the parents’ group from my previous parish, and the councilor who I met encouraged me to pursue it. I emailed the parish staff yesterday, and they promised to discuss it at their staff meeting.
In the meantime, growing hope is before us. First and foremost, the numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are as low as they’ve been since our data tracking got fully functional in late spring 2020 – this drop, along with natural immunity and the hope that vaccination rates will keep ticking up, bodes well.
It challenged me to feel greater empathy for the homebound and ill, who might only engage with liturgy in this way. It left me wondering what better ways could be found, if any. And it pointed me toward growing hunger to return to the Mass in the before-times way – spoken congregational responses, even if murmured; the sung prayers and hymns, even if off-key; and the communal presence of the church, even if haggard and half-assed. It has been a blessing to get back to the routine of Sunday mornings, and I’ve relished bringing my family back to our pews.
As we returned to the parish though, it has definitely gotten me wondering on the perennial questions that are only more acute now. How will we cover budget shortfalls that aren’t recovering? How can we reanimate lapsed community life? What is/will be my role in this? How can I try to be more active? To what extent do we get engaged in our school and/or RE program?
For starters, I was able to attend an in-person listening session for young adults that my parish held as part of our synod gatherings. In addition to providing input to the prompts, I also got to meet a member of the parish council and share some of my hopes for fellowship among parents and families. One of my ideas has been to copy the parents’ group from my previous parish, and the councilor who I met encouraged me to pursue it. I emailed the parish staff yesterday, and they promised to discuss it at their staff meeting.
In the meantime, growing hope is before us. First and foremost, the numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are as low as they’ve been since our data tracking got fully functional in late spring 2020 – this drop, along with natural immunity and the hope that vaccination rates will keep ticking up, bodes well.
In the pews, especially at St. Francis of Assisi in Bolingbrook, IL, I find hope in the diversity in our refilling pews – our parish gathers people of many races and ethnicities and of all ages, and I think reflects a Church alive. I can see this, too, in the young people who regularly minister as greeters and choir members and cantors and the students who represent our joint parish school at special Masses and in fundraisers. I’m also heartened by the way many still wear masks by personal choice even in the absence of a mandate, how we maintain a section where masking and social distancing is required, and how I’ve never seen a dispute of any kind at our church, or any resistance to the vaccine endorsements from our priests and holding of a vaccine clinic on our grounds.
I hope that, as my family gains new stability and as the parish comes back to full function, that we can be more involved, more outgoing, and more engaged, starting with this parents’ group idea. And I hope that others, no matter how much or how little you went to Mass these last two years, will get back in the habit again. What better time to rejoin in-person communion than Holy Week and Easter!? The Risen Lord awaits.
I hope that, as my family gains new stability and as the parish comes back to full function, that we can be more involved, more outgoing, and more engaged, starting with this parents’ group idea. And I hope that others, no matter how much or how little you went to Mass these last two years, will get back in the habit again. What better time to rejoin in-person communion than Holy Week and Easter!? The Risen Lord awaits.
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