{"id":52601,"date":"2020-07-06T13:50:55","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T18:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=52601"},"modified":"2020-07-19T18:51:02","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T23:51:02","slug":"52601","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/06\/52601\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic Prayers for Priests"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Michael O’Connor<\/em><\/p>\n

One thing we know for sure about Covid-19 is that the over-60s are at greater risk than the general population. Most Catholic priests are in this age group. As lockdown measures are relaxed, they are going to be under considerable pressure to show up; and the pressures will be both external and internal, unconscious as well as overt.<\/p>\n

I tried to imagine what that would be like: I met up with four fictional priests who were on an imaginary zoom call celebrating 45 years since their ordination. I asked them how they are preparing themselves to open up their churches for public masses. This is what they told me:<\/p>\n

Fr. Chris Crozier:<\/strong> I was ordained to serve, period. This is what it looks like in 2020. I don\u2019t recall specifying, on my ordination day, the situations in which I would not serve. I am trying to respond to the Lord\u2019s call, to read the signs of the times, to minister word and sacrament, with a trusting and generous heart. I won\u2019t say that I am not concerned \u2013 but I am concerned every time I drive on the freeway or climb on board a plane. Perspective is important.<\/p>\n

Fr. Tim Tremblay:<\/strong> Perspective is difficult when the fear is real. I was getting used to the \u201cCelebration of the Order of Mass with a Single Laptop\u201d \u2013 a fully sterile environment. But now I\u2019m losing sleep about people coming back to church. I\u2019m not in the best of health and I actually feel bullied into putting myself at risk. And it\u2019s not just me: so many of my parishioners are old and infirm \u2013 where will this end? I search my heart and I really don\u2019t know what to do; I feel frightened, ashamed, and guilty. What will they say if I just don\u2019t open up my church?<\/p>\n

Fr. Freddie Faraday:<\/strong> Yes, the danger is real \u2013 no world is risk-free \u2013 but, let\u2019s be honest, it can be kept under control. I wash my hands, keep my distance, wear a mask whenever necessary \u2013 it\u2019s not hard to protect ourselves and our people. Follow the guidelines, say your prayers, and you\u2019ll be fine. And if you do get sick, help will not be far away; no one wants you to be the next Michael Power<\/a> or Father Damien<\/a>. And ignore all that overblown talk of being frontline heroes \u2013 it\u2019s not very helpful.<\/p>\n

Fr. Graeme Green:<\/strong> I rather like the idea of being a hero \u2013 and a saint. It\u2019ll make a change from being \u201cnot as kind as father so-and-so,\u201d or \u201cnot as hardworking as father such-and-such,\u201d or \u201cnot as funny as our last priest\u201d (they can\u2019t even remember his name but they still know he was funnier than me). I know I\u2019ve been lazy and \u2013 God forgive me \u2013 too often taken shelter in a drink. This disease is a great leveller; it could be my best shot at genuine holiness, delivered right to my door.<\/p>\n

A couple of months ago, I tried to imagine the feel of Sunday mass<\/a> as lockdown measures were eased. One thing I had assumed was that seniors would be asked to stay home. Looking at recently issued guidelines from several dioceses, I see that I was wrong. My prayers for priests have taken on a new hue.<\/p>\n

Michael O\u2019Connor is Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, at St. Michael\u2019s College in the University of Toronto. He is Coordinator of the Christianity and Culture program and is a Lay Dominican.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My prayers for priests have taken on a new hue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":52602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3118,3406,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ars-celebrandi-new-ws","category-how-to","category-ordained-ministry"],"yoast_head":"\nPandemic Prayers for Priests - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/06\/52601\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pandemic Prayers for Priests - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My prayers for priests have taken on a new hue.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/06\/52601\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-06T18:50:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-19T23:51:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Collar.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"225\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Other Voices\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Other Voices\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/06\\\/52601\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/06\\\/52601\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Other Voices\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4eec536020900714d992552a4e06f913\"},\"headline\":\"Pandemic Prayers for Priests\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-06T18:50:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-19T23:51:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/06\\\/52601\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":601,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/06\\\/52601\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/Collar.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"2_ARS CELEBRANDI\",\"c_How-To\",\"Ordained Ministry\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/06\\\/52601\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/06\\\/52601\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/praytellblog.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/06\\\/52601\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pandemic Prayers for Priests - 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