July 15, 2020

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

Let me tell you about this morning. I had an appointment with my new cardiologist – a telephone appointment. First of all, let me be sure to tell you that the doctor assured me that my heart was in good shape and healthy.

After talking a while about my heart, the doctor began talking about his life as a Catholic especially during this time of pandemic. Among other things, he mentioned that in his parish, it was required to call and make a sort of a reservation for being at Sunday Mass. I suspect many of you are faced with the same situation. Our Catholic parishes these days are required to limit the congregation at Mass along with distancing and face masks and such. I believe we will be doing these things for quite a while more.

So today as I began to write, the only thing that is holding my attention these days is being a Catholic during this pandemic. I know that not much is going to change. However, I think that this should mean that living the life of a good Catholic should not really be that different, but in many ways, it is very different. I think that living a good life will demand more faith now. I believe faith means a deeper love for the Lord Jesus, a readiness to live well, to understand well how to make my life alive with the Spirit of my God. Things are much more confusing these days. So many other things are involved with living a good and healthy life, and, at the same time, turning often to the Lord to find a deeper and stronger faith.

So here we go again. My attention constantly turns to doing all that I can to keep my faith strong and alive. Mass may be a streamed Mass on the television. As a person of faith, even this should lead me to a deeper prayer, prayer of heart and soul. Personally, I know it is not like Mass in Church, but in faith this streamed Mass can lead me to prayer and strengthen my faith.

I believe that this should and must lead me to promise the Lord to do all that I can to allow the Lord to lead me – to live well, to do something special, to lead me to bring the love of the Lord into all that I do as part of my daily life. This leads me to live with faith with a readiness to always be ready for the surprises that the Lord places in my life each day – surprises that I can bring God’s love and peace to others. This is my opportunity to make my world a better place.

One more thing to share with you today. I believe this would be an excellent way for us all to extend our faith in this time of distancing and staying apart. That would be that each of us would offer our prayers and sacrifices for very specific intentions – someone we know who needs our prayers, of a cause for this world or country, or a hope or wish in our hearts.

Over the years, I know that I have been supported and strengthened by the prayers of many – many who have promised to pray for me, many who have realized that I needed someone to pray for me. And I believe in faith that the prayers of so many have made a powerful difference in my life.

I would like to suggest finally an intention for us all: I believe it is time for us to pray for the people of our planet, a time to realize that there are far too many divisions among us, divisions that have resulted in a lack of respect and at times even a deep hatred. May the prayers of us all reach out to our God, and that with God’s help, we may truly discover that we are truly brothers and sisters.