In Times Like These

It is times like these that we really begin to understand the old adage: “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.” We have seen our whole way of life change in what seems like the span of just a few days and weeks; watching one thing after the other become restricted, common goods cleared off of shelves in our stores, and now even the suspension of public masses in our dioceses. We might be tempted to think that God is somehow punishing us for our sins, that the great chastisement is upon us, but what this time really is, I think, is Lent.

What may be the most devastating change in the recent days is the suspension of public masses. “How could God allow this?” we might ask. “Why would He prevent us from receiving Him?” is a question that might echo in our hearts. Perhaps this is an opportunity to experience, and to recognize and nurture, a true hunger for Him in our souls. We all know the phrase: “separation makes the heart grow fonder.” So, this is the perfect time to allow your heart to grow fonder for that privilege of communion with Our Lord in the most Holy Eucharist, to hunger and thirst for that Gift to which we have become so accustomed, and to remember in a visceral manner that the most Holy Eucharist is a gift from the most High God of Himself to us, and not just something we do every Sunday because we’re Catholic.