“And we know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints.” (Romans 8.28)
This Bible verse rang true in our little parish of Sacred Heart in Sydney, where we hold our monthly Mass for the intentions of the John Paul II Foundation worldwide.
How did it ring true? Well we all know the devastation Covid-19 has caused in people’s lives through sickness and death. Spiritually, we have been affected with the closure of churches and the halting of Holy Mass for weeks on end. For those who found their way to a parish that still celebrated Mass in secret, it was under the threat of heavy fines and prison time. We can never know what our early brothers and sisters went through when Christianity was first birthed in Rome having to hide in the catacombs to celebrate Mass, however I can say we all felt at least SOME of what they went through as we entered the churches and locked the doors behind us to avoid this modern day “persecution” (of course safely social distancing once inside!)
For many who could not receive Our Lord in the Eucharist during this time, it was a time of pain and sacrifice. After all, which faithful Catholic would not hunger for this life-giving, soul-edifying Meal? Never before in the history of the world had Mass been banned! As contagion levels slowed, churches started re-opening. We are not yet back to normal with only limited services available, however, I did notice a surge in turnout for the past two months during the JPII Foundation Masses here in Sydney. Pre-Covid, we had a small group of 10-15 faithful folks attending. Post-Covid about 40 showed up! God, indeed, turned something bad (the havoc of the plague) into something good (turning hearts on fire for Christ!) And it wasn’t returning to Holy Mass just to fulfill an obligation, it was returning with a deeper appreciation and gratitude for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, an intense desire to be with Our Lord in the Eucharist! We saw what we missed, we saw that sometimes we took this Most Awesome Gift for granted; we saw that we could not survive without the “Source and Summit of our Faith”. Having a larger turnout was a great result – more people were able to pray for the end of the Culture of Death (the purpose of the Sydney Chapter).
Sydney Chapter
