Sunday Mass attendance in person at Catholic churches in the U.S. is back to pre-pandemic levels, although just under one quarter of the nation’s Catholics are in the pews on a regular weekly basis.

What will we hold onto from the pandemic? Perhaps the videos we watched and experiences we had, mostly virtual, in connecting with other people.

Some people might wonder how I felt so connected to others from afar, but there are many ways that I connected with my parish, and I really felt like I belonged.

As pandemic restrictions have eased, most parishioners have returned to in-person Masses. But some would prefer the option for virtual services to remain.

It is understandable not wanting to take the time to draw attention to the second anniversary of the recent surreal horror show of Covid-19. But there are also many moments of grace scattered across the landscape of lockdowns.

As the world begins to emerge from the most recent surge of the Covid-19 pandemic, how do we return to normal? And what should normal mean?