Are we there yet?
When I was a little boy, I vividly remember going to the beach for spring break. It was about a two-hundred-mile journey to the water from where we lived, and I can remember how excited I would get when we crossed the bridge over the intercoastal waterway. Crossing that bridge meant we only had about three more miles to reach the beach. I can also remember how the last three miles felt longer than the preceding 197! “Are we there yet,” I asked relentlessly.
A year ago we were not allowed to have in-person worship on Easter Day. Since then I have prayed many times that we would have a full church at all masses this Easter. Unfortunately, we are simply not quite there – yet. Because in-person worship attendance is still limited by our bishop, we have added an additional mass on the Eve of Easter, in addition to the Great Vigil, which we have moved to 3PM on Saturday. This helps, but it does not enable us to accommodate everyone at everyone’s preferred mass.
The 9:00 and 11:00 AM masses on Palm Sunday require registration, as do the masses on the Eve of Easter and in the morning on Easter Day. If the mass of your choice is full, please consider another open time. When all the masses fill, remember Eastertide is fifty days. Click here to register for Palm Sunday or Easter masses.
Finally, it is important to keep the deeper spiritual reality in mind by remembering that all the challenges we have been through together during the pandemic “produce endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Romans 5:3-4). If we just endure a bit longer, this season of reduced capacity will soon come to an end, and we will rejoice indeed.
With every prayer and good wish, I remain:
Your servant,
CW+