Catholic Church

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture - The near-obsessive discussion is also a coping mechanism, no doubt. We talk because we’re worried; we search for new information because we’re unsettled by the information that we have. At the same time we talk because that’s what humans do: we communicate. Isn’t it a relief when the conversation shifts to some other topic—the weather, perhaps, or last night’s ballgame? Oh, wait; there wasn’t a ballgame last night; and that’s part of our problem. What else can we talk about?

By Edward Pentin, EWTN News - But the decision has not been an easy one to make for some bishops… Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, tweeted it was “the most painful decision I’ve had to make in my 27 years as a bishop.” He added: “I cannot imagine asking our people to go without Mass and Holy Communion, especially as Easter approaches. But it has to be done.”… Some dioceses, such as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, have gone further than halting Masses by extending a ban to all public liturgies and devotions and closing all churches and chapels, including perpetual adoration chapels.

By Msgr. Charles Pope - The reading for Tuesday’s Mass (Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent) was astonishingly applicable to our current situation. It also brings up a controversial question: are we experiencing punishment for our sins? The modern world has grown proud; we have largely forgotten our vulnerability. Worst of all, we have collectively cast God aside. In this sense we do not need to directly attribute this chastisement to God. Rather, the deep wound to our own sense of invincibility is itself the source of our pain and punishment.