Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Here’s an article that appears in the latest edition of the St. Bernard’s Catholic Church newsletter.
During the recent coronavirus pandemic, JoAnna Richard observed Wisconsin’s stay-at-home order, but that didn’t stop her from attending daily Mass in at least 15 different churches and cathedrals around the world.
“ I find it to be a little sliver of normalcy to be able to have that every day,” she said.
Richard, who retired from state service at the end of March, was blessed with excellent timing.
“My goal if we hadn’t had the pandemic was to start attending daily Mass, so this was my substitute for that effort,” she said.
To start her day, Richard uses the Catholic Daily Reading application on her cell phone.
She then noticed that the app also provides a list of online Masses.
“It was fascinating,” she said. “All the different churches that are available, so I started checking them out.”
She has watched Masses from the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Newfoundland, St. John Cantius Catholic Church in Chicago, the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Knoxville, Tenn., the Catholic Church of the Resurrection in Lansing, Mich., Our Lady of Poland Catholic Church in Southampton, N.Y., the Carmelite Fathers Chapel in Munster, Ind., and the English Holy Mass from Lourdes, France.
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My favorite is from Lourdes … right from the grotto,” she said. “You really feel like that is a special place.”
Richard said all of the services are similar, but they do have their own local flavor.
For example, there is some Slavic language influence at the Yonkers church and with the Carmelites in Indiana, she said.
For that reason, some of the services have been a little hard to understand.
“The English hasn’t always been the best,” she said. “The priest is usually pretty good, but sometimes the assistant or lectionary is a little harder to understand.
“But the app has definitely been a nice find. A real gift.”
Richard, who has been a parishioner for about 30 years, said visiting these churches on-line has taught her that the Catholic Church is “broad” in its reach.
“I was surprised by what is available,” she said. “There are so many Masses available throughout the day. There are evening Masses too.”
Even if you don’t have the phone app, parishioners can access these Masses through a quick internet search throughout the year.
On the first weekend that Masses were not available here at St. Bernard, Richard said the hardest part was not receiving Communion.
“The prayer is helpful,” she said. “It does at least give you some hopefulness, but missing Communion is hard.
“I feel I have been a little spoiled. Twice now I have lectored and I have been able to receive Communion, and I can’t tell you how good that feels.”
Although Richard spends her week days away from home, she always returns to St. Bernard Mass on Sunday.
JoAnna is eager to attend mass in person again, and Andy is concerned about it.
“I just don’t understand the church thing,” he lamented. “It’s not exactly one of the safest places to be.
“That’s a conversation you’ll need to have with your mom,” I conceded.
I’ve been a bit puzzled by this increasingly enthusiastic embrace myself. JoAnna’s positions on certain social issues – abortion, gay rights, to name the two most obvious ones – certainly don’t comport with official Catholic church doctrine and teachings. On the other hand, St. Bernard’s is a progressive parish. JoAnna recently joined the church’s Creation Care Team, which was formed to raise consciousness and educate members about climate change, as well as to work with community leaders outside of the church.
I know that JoAnna would never put herself in a situation where she’s likely to become infected, but Andy, whose coronavirus anxiety level was briefly off the charts in mid-March, is very much uncomfortable with JoAnna’s attending mass in person.
“I might move back to my apartment for a while,” he announced.
His last comment gave me a bit of a jolt. I thought he had pretty much flattened his anxiety curve.
(And if he does follow through on this pronouncement, it will be, at most, until the end of June. That’s when his lease expires. And with his furlough status still ‘indefinite’, he decided not to renew for another year. )
Andy can point to evidence that backs up his concerns. In early March, a ‘superspreader’ unknowingly infected 52 other people with the virus at a church choir practice in Mount Vernon, Washington. Around the same time, 92 parishioners attending a church service in rural Arkansas later tested positive. I’m sure he’s aware of both of these incidents, but they took place before social distancing became the norm.
St. Bernard’s has been numerous safeguards in place, and as a member of the
church council, JoAnna has participated in the discussion to reopen. First of all, members must register in advance for one of the weekend masses: Saturday afternoon at 5:00 and Sunday morning at 8:00 and 10:30. Attendance is limited to 25% of capacity: 150. All hymnals will be removed from the sanctuary. No bulletins will be
distributed. A collection will not be taken up. The service will not include any singing, as this form of expression causes a person to project droplets beyond 6 feet. (Not to discount this precaution, but it’s been my experience while attending mass at St. Bernard’s that most people sit or stand silently while a minority of members –
less than 20%, I’d guess – sing along to the liturgy and hymns.) In addition, the
church has already been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and a group of high school volunteers will wipe down the pews after each service. As you see from the photos, St. Bernard’s has a large sanctuary. Even with social distancing – people seated in every other row, for example – every surface is going to have to be disinfected three times each weekend. No shortcuts.
And throughout the week.
Daily mass starts on Monday, June 1, and JoAnna is planning to make attendance a part of her weekday routine.
