It feels as though we’re all emerging from a fog – a COVID cocoon, as it were. Over the past year, we’ve all spent most of our days at home, doing pretty much everything remotely and keeping our social circles small.
Thanks be to God, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we will soon be able to gather again in the communities we know and love. Community is an important aspect of life – nobody should ever be alone – but it is particularly crucial in the Christian life. As Archbishop Aquila recalls in this week’s Easter reflection, Jesus was very clear about how Christian communities ought to gather: “I am the vine, you are the branches” (Jn 15:5). Each individual Christian is a smaller part of a greater whole, the whole being Christ and his Church.
“Without me, you can do nothing,” Jesus continues. In a very poignant sort of way, we have been without Jesus over the past year. Yes, he is always present with us, but we’ve not had the opportunity to gather with our brothers and sisters in the faith at Mass each and receive him in the Eucharist. On May 23, we will be able gather once more with our parish communities and participate in the mystery of the Eucharist together, just as it was intended.
Below are a few articles which will hopefully serve as a reminder of the power of the Eucharist, the joy of community and the excitement of being able to gather together at the foot of the altar as one body in Christ once more.
Preparing to, once again, partake in the mystery of the Eucharist
Rediscovering Eucharistic amazement
Despite no Masses, you won’t believe what parishes are doing
For more information about the return to Mass, visit archden.org/return.
