Vaccines are promising an end to the Covid-19 pandemic, but weekly Mass attendance may not yet be possible. And for centuries, many Catholics have maintained faith without it.
Joyce Coleman sings the soul of a community whose faith has been tested by fire across generations, centuries, in this country. To sing such a faith is, for this white Catholic, to be filled with wonder and gratitude—beyond words, beyond speech, beyond concept.
We begin each Mass like the disciples, locked in our rooms, isolated and maybe afraid. Then out of nowhere Jesus appears in our midst and brings us together.
A new Vatican instruction seeks to ensure that there is order in the celebration of the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and that Masses are celebrated in accordance with the norms and spirit of the liturgical renewal of the Second Vatican Council.