Commentaries
Our Christian calling and social distancing
The global phenomenon of imposed isolation is a reminder of the many people who experience "social distancing" as a daily, lived reality -- most often not of their choosing, writes Elise Italiano Ureneck.
Jesus favored small groups (think 50), for good reason
When Jesus fed 5,000 people, he sat them in groups of 50. It wasn't ancient "social distancing" but a strategy of discipleship especially poignant in these Lenten days of unprecedented change, writes Father Eric Banecker.
Keep reverence for Christ in Communion, in hand or tongue
Besides concerns for hygiene in the time of coronavirus, a question of how to receive the Eucharist has arisen. But it has already been settled, as Father Christopher Moriconi explains.
Five things church leaders should do about coronavirus
Matthew Manion of Villanova University's School of Business suggests ways church communities can use the current crisis as an opportunity to stay united and share the love of Christ with all.
Keep balance of health and faith in a time that tests both
Maureen Pratt, well aware that some people might not take health precautions seriously, says prudent measures including suspending Mass or modifying certain aspects of it show not a weak faith but great love and understanding.
Archbishop Gomez offers prayer to Mary ‘in time of trial’
The president of the U.S. Catholic bishops urged prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe, saying "Now is the time to intensify our prayers and sacrifices for the love of God and the love of our neighbor."
Coronavirus church may be online, but people of God remain real
Digital devotion during a temporary health crisis can be meaningful, writes Oblate Father Thomas Dailey. Yet the church will always be called to come together in person.
Silence is Lenten antidote to week’s turmoil
Effie Caldarola observes the roil of news both profound and sublime in just the first week of Lent. The season calls us to seek God in quiet, in Scripture, and in the encounters with others each day.
The black Catholic nun every American should know
At age 15 Anne Marie Becraft began a school for black children in 1820 and became a nun in the midst of the nation’s and the church’s slaveholding elite. Her life declared that the lives of black people, especially women and girls, mattered.
The Catch-22 for religious freedom
Richard Doerflinger describes how some wish to strip a particular group's religious exemption because they're not religious enough (i.e., Catholics') while affirming it for groups in which the exemption is irrelevant.