Catholic Church

By Jules Gomes, Church Militant - Meanwhile, Bp. Francesco Beschi of Bergamo said priests could no longer administer last rites to the dying. He called on baptized laypeople to offer some form of a blessing to their loved ones… "We can no longer even anoint the sick," the bishop said, remarking that it would be imprudent to do so in the face of the epidemic… "At this point we say: Why can't a baptized person make a Christian mark on those who are sick?" Beschi asked. "Starting with those who are in the family, the children or the grandchildren can bless their grandparents or parents. Thus they can make a sign of faith for them."… "The Church," he observed, "says that if a penitent has the intention of making a sacramental confession as soon as possible, he or she receives God's forgiveness."

By Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents - A great way to make this Lent even better spiritually is to offer up not only something you chose, but also to offer up your inconveniences… Give God those moments when you’re stuck in traffic, or when someone says something bitter to you, or when you have to run an errand you just don’t want to run. Offer up those inconveniences that you didn’t choose, and God will make you stronger in them.

Msgr. Charles Pope - The first reading for Mass on Monday (Monday of the third week of Lent) was striking in its relation to the current time of turmoil. It reminds us of our vulnerability. Despite all our strength, we are individually and collectively in need of tremendous grace and mercy from God. For all our concern about the physical threat of this virus, we should be even more concerned about our spiritual vulnerability.

By Mary Farrow, CNA - Demand for confessions at St. Mary’s in downtown Lincoln, Nebraska, has always been high: it’s a centrally-located church with convenient, daily confession times and often multiple confessors… During the parish’s normal 11:30-noon weekday confession times, penitents on their lunch breaks line up, often 20 people or more deep, for absolution and sacramental grace, before returning to work, or before attending the 12:10 p.m. Mass… “It's a big ministry,” Fr. Douglas Dietrich, the pastor of St. Mary’s, told CNA. “And then we have a lot of people who come by the door and call up and just want to go to confession; that's great.”A