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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Over the past few weeks, as we’ve watched the coronavirus work its way across the globe, we’ve also<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">heard of some of the dramatic steps that the Church has taken in other parts of the world to help hinder<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">the spread of the virus and protect public health. Holy Water fonts have been emptied, gatherings<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">postponed, and Mass cancelled. Now the time has come for us to confront the spread of the disease as<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">our Catholic brothers and sisters in other parts of the world have.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">In the past few weeks, as we have been anticipating and planning for what we have known would<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">eventually come, it has been my experience that there have been two opposite responses and attitudes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">that have not been helpful at all: hysteria and indifference. They are the subtle work of Satan, flaming<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">the fires of discord and division, when our unity is most important.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">These responses are not the Christian way. Our way is the middle way. We use our reason, temper our<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">passions, act prudently, and do what is good, not just what seems expedient or popular. This is how<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Bishop Sheridan and the other Bishops of our Archdiocese came to their decision to suspend our public<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">liturgical activities over the next few weeks. I also know that this decision remains a great weight on<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">their hearts, as it does mine, because we are Pastors. Our desire is to shepherd, preach, guide, comfort,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">nourish and spread the Gospel. And while there are many ways in which we can do this, our primary<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">avenue for all these things is our liturgies, and especially the celebrations of the Mass. In fact, I find it<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">difficult to explain the joy I have of gathering with all of you on Sundays!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">So, I have been praying about what lies ahead and how we can navigate this time of uncertainty<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">together. Through the Holy Spirit, I was drawn to reflect on an experience I had years ago as a<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Transitional Deacon in my last year of seminary studies. My classmates and I were on an extended<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">mission in the region surrounding the town of San Cristobal in Chiapas, Mexico. We were there to<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">minister to the indigenous Tzotzil people, many of whom are Catholic, who live in primarily small<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">impoverished mountain villages, separated by difficult terrain and one-lane mountain roads.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Our efforts there were primarily focused on assisting the two priests who served nearly one hundred<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">parish churches throughout the region. Two priests, 100 parishes. It was a hectic schedule as they<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">attempted to reach each of these parishes, about two per week, for their yearly visit. These churches<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">are some of the many examples throughout the world where Mass is celebrated only once a year. And<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">not only the Mass, but weddings, confirmations and the sacrament of reconciliation. Imagine how<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">precious this once a year visit is to them!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I don’t need to imagine. What I experienced will be with me forever. Each village had lookouts that<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">would spot our caravan of vehicles coming, and the member of the town would line both sides of the<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">dirt road leading into town for almost a mile. Everyone had flowers and would toss them upon us as we<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">slowly passed by. Upon reaching the village center, everyone gathered around us to greet the priest and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">the visitors with him. There was song and dancing, many hugs and handshakes. Following a brief tour,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">the priest began his sacramental work of hearing confessions, attending to the sick, catechizing those to<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">be married, and preparing for the Mass. The Mass was celebrated with great enthusiasm as the entire<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">town crowded into a small church without pews. There were even rows of people outside, hanging<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">through the windows to peer in.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Standing, pressed up against the wall of the church beside the altar with my friends, with just a few feet<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">of space between the people and the altar, we prayed the Mass together. The air filled with smoke of<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">the sage incense, and I remember thinking how beautiful was their reverence for the Eucharist, and how<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">palpable was their desire to be united to Christ in the Eucharist. And the great feast and celebration<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">that followed simply emphasized the importance of who it was that we had all received together: Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Since that experience, I have never taken the reception of the Eucharist for granted.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">I could certainly write much more about that transforming journey, but I think I have written enough to<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">draw out what is important for us today and in the weeks to follow. And that is how we can respond to<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">our short-term situation: in the way that the people of San Cristobal do during that long year, until the<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">priest can come again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">They do it by recognizing that having received Christ, not only in the Eucharist but through the Sacred<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Scriptures, and in their loving care for one another, Jesus does not drive away in that caravan. He<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">remains in them and through them in their love for one another -- just as He remains with us. The Word<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">of God is not a collection of pages in a book; He is a living thing, surrounding us, inspiring us, inviting us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">to unite ourselves to God. The Church is, first, the people who believe and trust in God, and follow the<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">teachings of Jesus, proclaimed and defended throughout the ages by our Bishops. Our institutions and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">buildings are but tools that assist us in our living out the faith as a community.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">And finally, our liturgies are those ways in which the Church memorializes and points toward the<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">invisible realities that they present. While they are, for us, the ultimate visible sign of God’s special<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">graces, God is not limited by them. And just as He bestows an abundance of graces upon those people<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">who can only receive the physical Eucharist once a year so that they may continue to live out their faith<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">in hope, He bestows those same graces upon us now!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">So, live not in fear and anxiety, but lean more heavily into prayer, reading Sacred Scripture, doing acts of<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">charity and good works; be a presence of security and hope to others who worry; and rediscover the<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Church’s teaching on Spiritual Communion which sustains others, like the Tzotzil. And perhaps the most<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">important spiritual reflection we can make over the next few weeks is on how often we take for granted<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">the blessing of being able to receive the Holy Eucharist as often as we do. Instead, let us show our<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">thanks for our blessing by fully participating in Masses we attend, supporting our parishes, praying for<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">our priests, encouraging vocations, and availing ourselves to graces of the Sacrament .<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Whatever lies ahead for us, our prayer is now even more important. Pray for our bishops as they face<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">new decisions daily. Pray for our parish community. Pray for our staff who will continue to work<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">diligently to serve you in the best way that they can. Pray for our homebound, our sick, our health<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">professionals, our governments. All of these things and more are in my prayers, along with all of you, as<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">my celebrations of Mass continue in private for all our sakes and the salvation of all. May God bless you<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">now and always, and grant you His peace,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Your servant in Christ,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt">Fr. Kirk Slattery</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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