The announcement was accompanied by a list of strict guidelines that pastors and parishes must follow. These include limiting the number of people in the church at any one time to 10 or less, following current social distancing guidelines, and cleaning and sanitizing pews daily.
“While mitigation efforts to date have helped, the coronavirus continues to pose a serious health threat, particularly to the elderly and those with underlying illnesses.”
I have made the difficult decision to suspend all public weekday and weekend Masses in the Diocese of Saint Cloud, effective immediately through Easter Monday, April 13. All Catholics in the diocese remain dispensed from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass during this time.
For each sacrament, “Spirit and Life” provides its readers with a scriptural passage and explanatory paragraphs from the Catechism of the Catholic Church; a historical commentary on that particular sacrament written by a church father or a pope; and a reflection penned by a contemporary Catholic.
Sacraments are communal and it is appropriate they are celebrated in a gathered community.
The Church believes Christ instituted this sacrament especially to strengthen us when we are being tried by illness.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has released a new book of Pope Francis’ teachings on the history of the devil, “his empty promises and works” and “how we can actively combat him.”
There are few topics more important to Catholic life than sacraments, and these three books are all intended to help explore this underexamined area of our faith.
