Father Hathaway’s weekly column – May 31, 2020
WELCOME BACK!
For the first time since March 16 and the suspension of public Masses due to the coronavirus pandemic, we welcomed parishioners back to the Basilica of Saint Mary with our 8:30 am Mass on Friday, May 29. It was an overwhelming experience of grace to be the celebrant for our first public Mass in more than two months. I didn’t realize until I looked out at everybody in the pews how powerful the moment would be. It was beautiful. I’m grateful to God and our wonderful parishioners for making everything go so smoothly.
For now we will have public Masses, and simultaneous Communion Services in the Lyceum auditorium to accommodate any overflow, on a slightly modified schedule – everything as usual except no 6:30 am Mass on weekdays. Social distancing and other precautions are being followed to ensure a safe environment. Click here to watch a video for more details.
Importantly, Bishop Burbidge is continuing the dispensation from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. You are encouraged to avoid attending public liturgies if you are 65 or older, have underlying health conditions, are caring for an at-risk person or if you feel sick in any way or are coughing and sneezing frequently. We need to continue to protect each other. For those unable to attend in person, our Masses are being livestreamed each day and then archived for viewing at any time here.
FIVE NEW PRIESTS FOR OUR DIOCESE
This coming Saturday, June 6, Bishop Burbidge will ordain five new priests for the Arlington Diocese: Guillermo José González Cordova, Peter Michael McShurley, Joseph Francis Moshetto, Charles Christopher Pavlick and James Francis Waalkes. Congratulations!
Due to coronavirus restrictions, attendance for the ordination is by invitation only. Fortunately, it will be livestreamed at 11 am on Saturday, June 6 from the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More at www.arlingtondiocese.org. Please join in this celebration (at least virtually) and pray for our wonderful new priests.
PENTECOST SUNDAY
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit…. (Acts 2:1-4, RSV).
Today, May 31, we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. From the Greek word Pentecoste, it means 50th day and marks the conclusion of Christ’s 40 days on earth after He rose from the dead on Easter, plus the nine days of prayer (the first novena) of Mary, the Apostles and others gathered in the Upper Room. They had experienced amazing things and were anxious about what might happen next. At the same time, they were filled with hope because Jesus said He would send them an advocate, a guide, a protector.
As He promised, Christ sent His Holy Spirit – the third person of the Holy Trinity – to them and to us. “Since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to those who believe in Him….” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 732). The descent of the Holy Spirit also provides us with the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children and the gift of faith for all nations.
It’s fitting that we return to public Sunday Masses here at the Basilica on Pentecost. Like those waiting in the Upper Room, we largely have been separated from our Lord in the Eucharist and from the world in general. Today, through the Holy Spirit, we receive a tremendous gift: a renewed breath of spiritual life and light. This is a perfect moment to pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the world, the Church, our nation, our families and each of us as beloved children of God.
Veni, Sancte Spiritus
(Excerpt from the Sequence from the Mass of Pentecost)
Holy Spirit, Lord of Light,
From the clear celestial height,
Thy pure beaming radiance give.
Light immortal, Light divine,
Visit thou these hearts of thine,
And our inmost being fill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour thy dew,
Wash the stains of guilt away.
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
Thou, on us who evermore
Thee confess and thee adore,
With thy sevenfold gifts descend.
Give us comfort when we die;
Give us life with thee on high;
Give us joys that never end.