Tag: coronavirus

  • Another Liturgical Year, Another Bare, Ruined Choir

    Another Liturgical Year, Another Bare, Ruined Choir

    I didn’t need to have a beloved liturgical space crushed into a parking lot to make the point stand out.  But, thank you, 2020, it sure does help. 

  • Become What You Receive—just please don’t receive right now

    Become What You Receive—just please don’t receive right now

    People, what are we doing?  Whom are we kidding?  The Body of Christ is real, but so is the Coronavirus. 

  • What My Dreams are Telling Me about Covid-19

    What My Dreams are Telling Me about Covid-19

    I, or at least my subconscious, is mightily struggling across this desert-sea of worship-less existence.

  • The Alarming Consequences of Communion

    The Alarming Consequences of Communion

    Without over-stating the obvious: we live in a period of our collective human history all at once odd, strange, anxious, confusing, stressful, and strikingly electric. First, a virulent microbe continues to resist being contained. Second, compounding the presence and impact of said microbe, is the acutely tragic realization of our ignorance of the all too…

  • Predictions for the Post-Pandemic-Time

    Predictions for the Post-Pandemic-Time

    What will liturgy after the pandemic look like? Here are six personal predictions.

  • Sacraments After the Pandemic…Business as Usual?

    Sacraments After the Pandemic…Business as Usual?

    Endgame, the 22nd installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, focuses on the mission of the superhero team, The Avengers, to reset time after the catastrophic elimination of half of the world’s population. (You can look up the reasons why this happened on Wikipedia). They succeed in doing so albeit with the loss of Iron Man.…

  • More Masses Because of Corona?

    More Masses Because of Corona?

    On April 28, 2020, the basic reproduction number of the coronavirus in Germany is 1.0, in Austria 0.6. These are very good news, and both countries slowly try to return to their “default modes.” Public worship in Austria will be permitted again on May 15. Of course the remaining restrictions will have a major impact…

  • Clericalism and the Pandemic

    Clericalism and the Pandemic

    As any diocesan director of worship knows, there has been much to navigate during this distorting period in human history. At the center of concerns lay the issue of how to deal with the celebration and administration of the sacraments. Yet, in my experience, the greatest difficulties lay not in the necessity of adapting to…

  • Meditation in front of a Tabernacle

    Meditation in front of a Tabernacle

    The parish where I worship collects food items at weekend Masses in order to provide support to a food pantry in an impoverished neighborhood in Philadelphia.  As is the case in many other places, my region is under a shelter in place order and public liturgical services are severely curtailed.  On Thursdays, I walk from…