For two years now, I have gone to Mass twice every Sunday, although I do so seated at my kitchen table. I can see the local Catholic church from my window, but I haven’t been inside it since the brief window, mid-pandemic, of supposed normality in July 2021. From my small town in Oregon, I Read more
The new parish priest of the Marlborough is live-streaming a Sunday parish Mass from Sydney. Fr Giltus Matias is stranded in Sydney and because of Covid-19 has not been able to get to New Zealand. Stuff reports Mathias live-streams a vigil Mass each Saturday evening at 5 pm, while the priest in residence, Fr Jacob Read more
It’s time to think big about the future of worship before the future passes us by. As this pandemic transforms faith communities, the national conversation among leaders has been too timid and tactical — focused mostly on the logistics of returning to our brick-and-mortar buildings: How soon can we get bodies back into the pews? Read more
One person recently said, the Virtual Mass was great. “We could lie in bed, go to Mass in London, Florence, Ireland and even Auckland. It would be great if we could keep it”. Another said, “The first week I stood when I should, the second week I felt comfortable knitting and in the third week Read more
A group of children made a virtual First Holy Communion via video link during the weekend as Catholic Communion ceremonies have been cancelled because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions. Ten students from three primary schools in Northern Ireland took part in a special video link-up with local parish priest Fr George Begley. Jane O’Kelly, Read more
COVID-19 has done more to enliven the liturgical debate than anything else in the last decades. The vast amount of material produced in the run-up to Easter was astounding. It’s been a long time since I have seen so much that guided, challenged and questioned our liturgical response to lockdown. It was as if the Read more
As the human race joins the rest of the planet in a struggle for survival, the church is also trying to find its footing. Why? Clericalism. For too long — say, 800 to 1,000 years — the sacramental life of the church has been under priestly lock and key. Around the 10th century, the custom Read more
The whole world is now infected. The coronavirus continues to circle the globe, bringing the usual rhythms of life and commerce to an almost total standstill. The pandemic caught most countries and their people completely off-guard and unprepared. And many are already saying that this global crisis will force all of us to radically re-think Read more