Ask Father

Pastoring in the ‘desert’ of a pandemic
 
By Father Paul Prabell

Q: What is it like to be a pastor during the COVID-19 outbreak?
 
A: Our cathedral parish is not having any public Masses. We are scheduling 2-3 private weekly Masses, which are streamed into homes. We are encouraging people to pray at home. This critical aspect of the daily life of our parish is being missed. People are not able to receive Communion, and they miss out on gathering with others and the faith-sharing and the witness that quietly happen at every Mass.
 
Moreover, we all miss the simple power of the daily ritual of Mass, the dying and rising of Jesus in the midst of Mass and its symbolization that following Jesus calls for a dying to self — to self- agendas and self-definitions, and then rising as people transformed by Jesus. 

I regret that we are not able to visit the homebound, the sick or the imprisoned, except when called upon for emergency ministry. And yet I sense a new level of appreciative prayer for all those who work in the health care professions Christ the King is a parish where twice-a-week confessions are scheduled for an hour at a time, with three priests hearing confessions, and each of us is usually busy for at least an hour.
 
I regret that we now only offer the sacrament of reconciliation by appointments. Many people who yearn for forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church are forced to wait or to trust the power of their sincere contrition and the unlimited mercy of God. I think especially of those who have been away from the Church for some time and who are feeling ready for a fresh start. On the other hand, people who struggle with compulsive behavior are being subtly blessed to see their weakness in the light of compulsive behavior more so than as mortal sin.

Even as I realize that some creative approaches may be on the horizon, I ache with the people who are missing the sacraments. Holy week was prayerful and uniquely celebrated, and yet so much has been missed of the spiritual richness of the liturgies
 
I am edified to hear the volume of parishioners who are seeking to find ways to care for the poor and the elderly at this time. Our cathedral’s pastoral staff members are rising to the occasion and responding with generosity, creativity and courage in leading these e orts. I find myself going deeper and deeper in my affection for them and my concern for them and their families, even as they are concerned for me.
Christ the King is a parish with many people involved in many aspects of parish life, so we have many meetings. I am struck by how most of what we do can be put on hold — but not everything. We are still having a variety of major maintenance projects taking place, and our pastoral staff still needs to check in with one another. I am grateful for the virtual approach to meetings and
the folks who guide me through that technological darkness.

This time of shutdown means that visiting friends, family, eating out, entertainment events and even gym time are all curtailed. But it also gives more time for prayer, for reading, for resting and to be a brother to the other priests with whom I live. We are praying for the Church, our parish and our world as we have a private Mass in the rectory.

Since Christ the King parish is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, I have been reading a bit about 1945 and the impact of the Second World War on our nation and searching for hopeful parallels with our present situation. Through most of Lent, the Breviary‘s Office of Readings featured excerpts from the story of Moses and the Israelites on their Exodus journey. I am also being moved to prayerfully reflect on the Jewish people’s exiles in the time before Jesus. These readings are from a time when there were
no Masses, but there was prayer.

In a way, the pandemic has led me to reflect a bit more on the pastor’s role as a spiritual father — and has led me to invest myself a bit more in that calling to be a pastor and a spiritual father.
 
Father Paul Prabell is rector of the Cathedral of Christ the King in Lexington.

Read the full May issue of Cross Roads magazine here.