Dear Friends,
“I believe that God can bring forth good out of evil, even out of the greatest evil” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). The coronavirus crisis is stressful and challenging for most of us professionally, economically, in regard of human relationships… However, we can also find good in this situation. Overall I have more time for prayer and spiritual reading at the moment. We learn how to work with others and to stay in touch with them though Zoom, Skype, and Facebook Messenger. Parents say they are spending more quality time with their children. Watching a live streamed Mass together at home and praying together in the family creates an atmosphere of domestic church that some have not known before.
During the Easter Season, the readings at Mass are frequently taken from the Acts of the Apostles. One illumination of The Saint John’s Bible titled, Life in Community depicts the early Christian church in Jerusalem as described in Acts 4:32-35. On top it shows Christ in the mandorla, the overlap area of two circles, as so often in early Christianity. In him the divine and the human circle overlap and are at one. He, the Risen One is with us consoling us, bestowing His peace upon us and guiding us. In the semicircle around the table we see Mary, the apostles and other folks, including a man in a Middle Eastern tunic and vest to the left and a woman wearing a Guatemalan skirt on the right. All are welcome in his company. There is food and drink on the table. At the center, there is an altar with of bread and wine and also with a book representing Holy Scripture. When we are gathered in his name, Christ can feed us with the Eucharistic gifts, but also with his living word.
Last Friday we received the good news from Governor Ricketts that starting next Monday many of you will be able to go to church again. The requirement of social distancing will continue, however, which will limit the number of people who can be in a particular church space. And not everybody is advised to go to Mass, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions better stay at home. Here at the priory we will continue to life stream our Masses and some of the Liturgy of the Hours. Please join us. On our website, you can share your prayer intentions with us. We read them and make them our own. I wish all of us may experience the presence of the Risen Lord when we are gathered with others in his name, in person or remotely, and that we can, like the early apostles, give witness to the power of the Resurrection, of His new life, within us and among us.
I wish you could be here and see everything in bloom around the lake at St. Benedict Center. We will let you know when we are ready to re-open this facility! I am looking forward to seeing you again soon!
Fr. Thomas