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Catholics have been allowed to worship openly in Virginia since Thomas Jefferson issued the Act for Establishing Religious Freedom in 1785. Soon after that, Catholics in the commonwealth began raising money to build their own church.
Over the summer, Reagan Lungren and I were fortunate enough to attend Salesian Leadership Camp along with 12 other seniors at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria. Although we were unable to travel to Camp DeSales in Michigan, COVID-19 didn’t dampen our experience.
Paula Kraus wasn’t afraid to utter the wish burning on her heart, the one that seizes so many preparing to lose a loved one.
St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax hosted its 10th annual baby shower Sept. 26 to support mothers in need across the diocese. The event, turned drive-thru due to COVID-19, was sponsored by the parish’s Gabriel Project ministry.
As we make more adjustments in our lives this fall, there are constant reminders of how unfamiliar our world has become. This can lead to a vague sense of discomfort and even dread as we unwittingly find ourselves waiting, pessimistically, for the other shoe to drop. We wonder what might go wrong next or have concerns about a second wave of COVID-19 that hits during flu season. It may feel as though we have some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In a way, we do.
A friend asks me to write about miracles, taking as an example the events that brought him and his wife together in a happy marriage now in its 58th year. To his credit, he doesn’t suggest their case is exceptional. Rather, he sees it as an instance of God’s hand at work in their lives, just as God is at work in everyone’s life. Other people, he suggests, might benefit from seeing their lives the same way he and his wife see theirs.
The priest’s homily caught my attention the second he referenced the “low-grade, boiling rage” that “burns” just beneath the surface. Recently, he shared, someone had sped up out of nowhere and tailgated him angrily. The same had happened to me the day before.
Yesterday, someone said that this has been her year of restlessness, of tossing and turning and rarely sleeping well. Her head hits the pillow and her brain goes into hyperdrive. All the scenarios. All the internal conversations. All night long. With the dawn, she is not rested and is even more poorly equipped to face the day than when she went to bed. Still, she launches headlong into a day of serving. She works hard, and then she works some more. She does it because she wants to have control, particularly when it seems as if the world is spinning wildly. She wants to fix things, make them right, heal them. I think many of us have lived the days and nights that she describes.
Whenever we come to Mass, we respond to God’s call to gather together for prayer, to listen and respond to His Word, to join in the offering of the sacrifice, to partake of Christ’s Body and Blood, and to be sent forth to do His work in the world. In the annual Chrism Mass, the diocesan church answers this call in a special way by gathering around our bishop to worship God and receive his abundant graces.
Twenty-five years ago, Pope John Paul II wrote that the Gospel of Life is at the heart of Jesus’ saving message to the world (“Evangelium Vitae,” 1). In taking on human flesh, dwelling among us, and sacrificing his very life for our redemption, Christ reveals the profound dignity of every human person. This God-given dignity does not change with our stage of life, abilities, level of independence or any other varying circumstance.
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