I believe that at least some of my readers from
Bergen County, NJ, grew up attending Masses in St. John the Evangelist.
They in particular are likely to feel sad that an institution so much a part of
their memories has temporarily closed, like others in the Archdiocese of
Newark, because of the coronavirus.
At just the moment when we need a source of consolation amid stress and tragedy, one of our chief lifelong sources of it is unavailable to us.
Decades before this, the Roman Catholic Church
looked to other communication channels to spread the faith, such as radio and
television. But the resort to live streaming is less a proactive than a
defensive measure. It supplements the physical experience of the Mass, but does
not replace it. I was grateful to participate this morning via St. John’s
live-streaming, but longed for the real thing.
The creators of the Church instinctively grasped
that, like love for another person, love of God is best transmitted tactilely—through
the swelling of the organ, the lifting of voices toward the vaulted ceilings,
the clasp of hands in the sign of peace, and the odor of incense. And, as the
very name “Mass” indicates, the individual is anchored in a large, mass faith
community.
In the end, a live streaming service is a poor but
necessary substitute for the Mass. Although I understand and respect First Things editor R.R. Reno’s argument that canceling services is “utterly unnecessary,” incidents of
exposure to the coronavirus that have occurred in other faiths confirm the need
for caution.
Even now, so many of us long for God as we long for
each other. For now, we will have to find him inescapably where we always
should have: in the deepest parts of our souls.
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