“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” John 6:57
On March 27th, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged in Italy, Pope Francis processed through a lonely St. Peter’s Square holding the Blessed Sacrament high and imploring God’s blessing and an end to the devastation and death caused by the virus. I recently saw a photo online with a graph of the deaths in Italy rising higher throughout March, but a sudden change took place on March 27th. The direction of the graph began to plunge lower, and the healing of a country began. By May 18th Pope Francis reopened St. Peter’s Basilica and public Masses were celebrated. The Holy Father also celebrated a private Mass in a side chapel dedicated to St. John Paul II on this day, which marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of St. John Paul II.
In the State of Washington, something quite the opposite happened. On March 6th, on the steps of the Capitol Building in Olympia, a Satanic invocation was allowed to take place. A look at the COVID-19 statistics in Washington show that March 6th also marked the beginning of the rise of hospitalizations and deaths due to the pandemic. By mid-March in Washington, churches were closed by government order. And they have remained closed up until now, in mid-June.
Today, most Washington churches are reopening and some of us are finally able to gather for Mass, but only in small numbers with many restrictions. We are told that our COVID-19 numbers in the Tri-Cities are still too high to move on to the next phase of reopening. On this Solemnity of The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, I pray that each of the faithful that are finally able to receive the Eucharist will take that blessing into the world and share the light of Christ in their homes, communities, and the world. And I pray that many of our priests and bishops, after Masses are held in parking lots and on grassy lawns, will lift high the Body and Blood of our Lord in public procession and adoration and implore the Lord to pour out His healing love and mercy on our broken world in these difficult times.
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