Commentary: Is God in our midst during the coronavirus outbreak?

“Is the Lord in our midst or not?”

This was the question posed from the Book of Exodus in last Sunday’s readings, and it is probably being asked by many in the midst of this great challenge we face. As a Catholic priest, my role is the same as other faith leaders: to assist people to an affirmative response to this question, to help people recognize and encounter God in their daily lives and to act on that encounter in their manner of living.

From a Catholic Christian perspective, our central encounter with the very presence of God is through the Sacrament of the Eucharist. This sacrament is commonly referred to as our celebration of Mass and it is when we gather as a community to be fed by God’s word and his real presence in his body and blood changed from simple bread and wine. Every aspect of our discipleship is rooted in making this personal encounter with the Lord manifest in our words and actions. How do we do that in the current moment of social distancing? How do we stay personal without much personal contact? For us during this time, it is connecting people to the Eucharist and to each other in creative ways beyond a communal gathering.

Social distancing is not a call for the church to go into hibernation. It is quite the opposite. This is when people need to feel God’s presence the most. So, we are trying to fulfill our mission in ways that are effective in drawing people to the presence of God. We do it at our parish in some very tangible ways without gathering as a community.

Daily, we offer a private celebration of the Eucharist that is uploaded to our parish website so people can be fed by God’s word and make a spiritual communion that strengthens them for their challenges. It gives us the opportunity to share a message of hope and a confidence in God’s presence in our midst. It also connects them to their parish family. They may be isolated physically, but they are not alone and not forgotten. Beyond our parish, our diocese is also offering daily and Sunday Masses in English and Spanish through its website, sdcatholic.org.

Our parish also continues to offer individual opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and personal counseling. The doors of the parish church remain open throughout each day for individual visits of prayer. Many who come to pray share their feeling of helplessness and turn to God in this sacred space, which is their second home. The level of anxiety and the longing for peace are palpable among so many people, especially the elderly. We are making a special effort to stay in contact with our senior neighbors with checks by telephone to help with any needs they may have.

We continue our charitable outreach to those who are on the margins. For example, we continue our sack lunch program to feed our homeless neighbors. We also continue to support more substantial outreach programs, like Father Joe’s Villages, with which we have a direct connection. We have a parish school and our teachers have instituted an amazing program of remote learning for our students and families, which also includes faith formation.

In this season of Lent (40 days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that prepare us for the mysteries of Holy Week and Easter), a great blessing is how this time helps us to look with a new perspective. Perspective is not what you are looking at but where you are looking from. This Lent, we get a glimpse of life without — and maybe we begin to see how much we take for granted in life: our loved ones, our faith, our community, our need for personal contact, our material blessings, our mortality.

“Is God in our midst or not?”

I see him so clearly these days amidst the pain of this moment. I also focus on the mystery of Easter, which is the promise of hope that leads us from sadness to joy, death to life.

Mulcahy is the pastor of Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in La Jolla.