Wednesday, 8 April 2020: Celebrating Holy Week and Easter.
As I was
preparing to celebrate our last public weekday Mass — three weeks ago! — I was
wondering if the Scripture readings that day would say anything about our
current situation. This was from the prophet Daniel:
"In our day
we have no burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense; no place to
make an offering before you and to find mercy. Yet with a contrite heart and a
humble spirit may we be accepted as though it were with burnt offerings, … and
may we unreservedly follow you, for no shame will come to those who trust in
you."
Daniel was
living during the time of the Babylonian exile. The Babylonians had conquered
Israel, demolished the Temple, and the people were sent into exile. With no
Temple, there was no way to offer God the prescribed sacrifices, which were the
‘sacraments’ of the old Covenant.
The
Babylonian exile was a complete disaster for the people of Israel, but they did
not give up hope. The exile eventually came to an end. God remained faithful to
his Covenant and brought his people back to their own land. They were able to
rebuild the Temple and to once again offer sacrifices of thanksgiving.
We are now
living in a time of exile from our own churches and from the Sacraments. This exile
will sooner or later come to an end. We will once again be able to offer our
sacrifice of thanksgiving, the Eucharist, at the God’s altar. Meanwhile, like
Daniel and his fellow exiles, we must hold ever more firmly to our faith.
It is more
than twenty-five years since I last missed a Sunday Mass. If I am away from the
parish, I make arrangements to concelebrate at another Church. Just as it is
for you, is a terrible privation for me not to be able to celebrate Holy Week
and Easter together as a congregation.
Like Daniel
and the exiled Israelites, we are temporarily cut off from the Temple, but we
are not cut off from God’s grace. Pope John Paul II called the family ‘the domestic
church’, or ‘the Church in miniature.’ Each of our homes can be a house of
prayer.
Especially
in these difficult times, we need to be praying together as families and
reading Scripture. If there are younger children in the home we can read
children’s stories from the Bible and from the lives of the Saints. If you
visit the ‘archtoronto.org/covid19’ website you will find some spiritual
resources.
