Community has been on my mind. Since the quarantine, my parish has done
nothing except send out a weekly email with referrals to diocesan resources and
a Sunday Gospel reflection.
Meanwhile, I participate in the Mass by watching a
neighboring parish’s Mass on YouTube.
This parish also has a zoom scripture sharing that I participate in.
Lately, I realize that I feel very close to these people in
my zoom community. I don’t know them but
I feel like I do; much more than I ever felt close to my own parish
community. Why? Perhaps because I’m interacting with them,
whereas in my parish I go to Mass and go home.
I go to church to pray not to socialize.
I feel the urge to thank this zoom community and their
priest by contributing financially to their parish, maybe even registering in
their parish.
But what about my own poor parish? Is this what people mean when they say they
left the church because it didn’t meet their needs?
Do you think parishes will lose their parishioners because
they feel abandoned by their priests?
That’s how I feel and it is why I am leaning towards going to this other
parish where their priest connects with his parishioners. I feel bad because my priests are older and
probably not comfortable with technology but isn’t that just laziness?
Surely they can reach out to tech people to help them learn what to
do.
Anyway, these are my thoughts this morning. There are
different kinds of communities and I feel pretty close to my online
friends. The online community is today’s
kerygma.
And think of my poor "cloistered brothers!" They have no community because they're locked in, i.e., no fraternity meetings, no work, no classes, no cafeteria, not even praying together! Will they be hungry for the Eucharist, or forget about it? How do you forget God?
But people do.
