SPECIAL REPORT

SPRING 2020

BRIDGING THE DISTANCE

AS WE PREPARE TO PUBLISH THIS ISSUE OF ARCHWAYS, a stay-at-home order is in effect for all 10 counties in the Archdiocese of New York, and seems likely to continue for at least a few more weeks. The term of the moment is social distancing. We don’t know how long restrictions will last, but until they are lifted (and in the event that they are later reimposed), the best antidotes are social connectedness (which does not require physical proximity) and spiritual closeness – to community, loved ones and God. Naturally, we have some suggestions.
 

DIGITAL MINISTRIES

There is a growing array of options for the faithful to connect with the Church and fellow Catholics through the Internet. Step one is to subscribe to your parish’s Flocknote and to visit its website and social media pages for opportunities to connect and participate at a safe distance, and for words of encouragement and uplift from your pastor and others. If you are not subscribed to Flocknote for you parish, contact the parish office.

Beyond the parish level, the Adult Faith Formation Office of the Archdiocese of New York has put together an exhaustive listing of dozens of online services and resources to help Catholics get through this difficult time – including virtual Masses and prayer sessions, playlists, books and videos, counseling services and more. A few highlights:

• Sunday Mass from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (on cable or web via Catholic Faith Network; livestreamed on saintpatrickscathedral.org/live and YouTube; and on the Catholic Channel of Sirius XM (Channel 129).
• Divine Mercy Chaplet daily on Catholic Faith Network; every Friday at 3:00 p.m. from the Office of Adult Faith Formation.
• FORMED.org, which offers movies, audio-books, talks, children’s materials and more. (If your parish’s Formed subscription is inactive, email formed@archny.org to get connected.)
• Family Faith at Home, a weekly religious education resource from the archdiocesan Office of Youth Faith Formation with activities for younger and older children.
• Daily Mass readings, with commentary available, from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops or from the Word Among Us.
• Morning and evening prayers available free from Magnificat during social distancing.

 

BREAD OF LIFE

When we are unable to receive the Eucharist for any reason, we can receive grace by making an Act of Spiritual Communion (see below). While in no way the equivalent of the sacrament itself, the prayer allows us to experience a lesser form of union with Jesus until the time when we can again receive Him sacramentally.
 

THE ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love you above all things and I desire to receive you in my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally,
Come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace you as if you were already there
And unite myself wholly to you.
Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.
 

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A QUARANTINE PLAYLIST

We asked Dr. Jennifer Donelson, the director of liturgical music at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, to recommend some tracks to console and inspire us during this time of confinement. For her playlist of great liturgical selections for the season of Easter, click here. Highlights include:

• Giovanni Gabrieli’s 1597 masterpiece, Jubilate Deo, recorded in rehearsal by the renowned Voces8 vocal ensemble.
• William Byrd’s Haec Dies, a magnificent choral setting of a Paschal antiphon (“This is the day which the Lord has made”), sung by the London Oratory Schola Cantorum Boys Choir.
• Arvo Pärt, Gloria, from the Estonian composer’s 1990 Berliner Messe. Paul Tillier conducts Theater of Voices.
• Charles Tournemire’s passionate, mystical Choral-improvisation on the “Victimae Paschali” (1930), played by Olivier Latry on the organ of Notre Dame, Paris.