We soon will enter the Season of Lent during an extraordinary time as we continue to face the pandemic which has caused so much suffering already. In some ways, it is itself a penance as is all suffering if we can unite it to the sufferings of Christ as we live in hope for the victory of the Resurrection.
While priests are unable to celebrate Mass publicly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they are finding creative ways to serve their Catholic communities.
Effective 12 p.m., Friday, March 20, all churches and rectories in the Brooklyn Diocese are now closed.
During Lent, Christians around the world pause to take a breath. It’s a time for reflection, prayer, almsgiving and fasting to honor and remember Christ’s sacrifices.
Pope Francis was supposed to depart March 1 for his annual weeklong Lenten retreat with senior members of the Roman Curia. As has been custom since 2015, the get-away is being staged at a retreat center in the nearby hill town of Ariccia, about 45 minutes by car outside Rome.
Amid continuing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Catholic pilgrims in the Holy Land said they were being cautious but had no regrets about continuing with their pilgrimage.
At one Chinese parish in the Diocese of Brooklyn, the start of Lent came with a message of hope amid concerns about the coronavirus.
For many Christians during Lent, fasting is often a grudging afterthought: smaller meals on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, no meat on Fridays. The idea of fasting, along with prayer and almsgiving, is to repent and grow in faith.
On Ash Wednesday, millions of Catholics around the world will wear a mark of ashes on their foreheads, gathered from the palms that are burned after Palm Sunday the previous year.
Pregnancy during Lent adds an extra layer of anticipation for new life and the glorious shouts of “Alleluia.”
