April 1, 2020
Dear Friends,
For the second Sunday in a row, I celebrated Mass in a virtually empty church. Yes, it feels weird; disorienting and sad!
But, yes, it is important for me, as a priest, to continue my ministry in whatever ways I am able. Be assured that I have been, and will continue to be, praying for each of you. I will offer one of my dialysis treatments for everybody’s health and well-being. Dialysis does not entail any great pain or suffering; but what little inconvenience, discomfort and stress there is can be united with Christ’s sufferings as a prayer-offering.
Some parishes are streaming their pastor’s private Mass on Facebook. I am sure that, among our parishioners, there probably is someone with the technical skills to do that. However, it requires more organizational skill than we can put together on such short notice. The one requirement that the Church has put on such live streaming is that everyone has to watch live. We cannot “store” the Mass for people to access at their own convenience. And that, for many of our people, would be extremely IN-convenient. When this is over, perhaps we should explore the regular “streaming” of Sunday Mass as a parish service to the home-bound, with skilled volunteers assigned on a weekly basis.
On both Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, WPIX-TV, Channel 11, will be broadcasting Mass from the Cathedral, at 10 AM. (I worked for them for many years, producing a program called “Contemporary Catholic” and assisting their director at Midnight Masses and the Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium. Their broadcast of the Mass from the Cathedral will be reverent and visually appealing.)
Part of the process is that, during the Offertory, people would electronically donate to the parish. Thus far, I have refused to contract with any of the approved companies that handle parishioners’ electronic gifts. My reasoning is that the fees the companies charge, even though minimal by business standards, are too high for us. We are one of only 44 parishes in the Archdiocese not connected to an on-line giving company. However, our parish lives “close to the bone.” If it costs us money to raise money, the process is self-defeating. I am confident that those of you who have not suffered financial collapse during this crisis will continue to be generous to the parish, either by mail or by leaving your donations on the rectory porch or by “paying forward” when we finally can gather again as a worshiping family.
A graphic reminder - as if we needed one - of the strange time in which we are living is that the blessing of palms, which is most people see as the center of the Palm Sunday liturgy - has been postponed to a Sunday long after Easter!! I said “which most people see” because, although the Palm Blessing, with its proclamation of the story of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, begins each Mass, it really is NOT the central focus of the Liturgy! Rather, it is the second Gospel we read - that of the Passion and Death of Christ - that occupies the spotlight. Early in Holy Week, I may post a homily for Palm Sunday. For now, I offer this brief reflection to sort-of refocus our thoughts:
Knowing full well that He was placing Himself in mortal danger, Jesus went to Jerusalem. His followers made a big show of devotion, waving palm branches (a first century equivalent of a ticker-tape parade), and crying out, “Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He come comes in the name of the Lord!” When He reached the Temple, He was appalled to see the vulgar commercialism that was evident there. In a rage, He threw over the merchants’ tables. That prophetic deed set in motion the plot to execute Him. Five days later, the same fickle mob would be crying out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
It’s a sober reminder of our tendency to choose self over what’s right and just, charitable and kind.
But - and this is especially important for us in the midst of the Corona Pandemic - the word “Hosanna” actually means “Save us.” As you pick up your palm, you are acting out a prayer most apropos this Palm Sunday - “Save us, O Lord!” Indeed.
Fr. Pete