Pastoral Visits:

Our utmost concern and priority at this time is the pastoral and spiritual care of our parish family. In these days where isolation has become the new norm, the pastoral arm of the Church must be more than ever front and centre. While regular home visitations are not possible at this moment, phone calls, checking-in and assuring each other of thoughts and prayers are still very important. Priests of course will continue to minister pastoral care. 

The Mass:

One of the greatest changes we face as Catholics in these months is that of how we participate in the Mass. This can be the most confronting and challenging. At the same time however, this moment can become a place of deepening understanding and growth. The Mass is the heart, the ‘source and summit’ of the Christian life. It is our identity. Indeed without the Eucharist the Church does not exist, God remains distant. So how are we to understand our present situation? When the Mass is offered the priest (in the person of Christ the Head) offers the Sacrifice with and for the Whole Body of Christ (the totus Christus), whether all the baptised are physically present or not. This means that all the baptised by virtue of their baptism and being a member of the Body, participate in that one Sacrifice, with the priest acting as its head. As a parish this situation gives us an opportunity to broaden our understanding of our Catholic faith, its heart in the Mass, and the Truth it makes present to us, to deepen our understanding of who we are as members of Christ’s Body.

This is what it is to be a member of Christ’s Body the Church, a great teaching point for us all, but especially our children. Some ways you might do this are by:

• Sharing and praying with the Sunday readings.
• Making an act of Spiritual Communion (See below).
• Viewing the daily and Sunday Mass on the Catholic Voice website (www.catholicvoice.org.au).

Here are some other resources available to support our faith life in these days. 

• The daily Gospel, daily commentary (Living Word) and prayers of intercessions are available for personal and family prayers.
• Liturgical and Scriptural resources (www.catholic.org.au/coronavirus).
  This is not the first time in history that Catholics have been unable/prevented from receiving the Eucharist in the context of the Mass. In fact it was in these moments that understanding of the Church’s nature grew, and as the Church began to learn more of who She was, Her understanding of Spiritual Communion emerged. Such an understanding giving a window into the life and nature of the Eucharist and the Church.
  
  Prayer and Obligations now...
  As you know all Catholics of Canberra and Goulburn have been dispensed from their Sunday obligation. But we have not been dispensed from prayer. We are encouraged to pray with the daily readings, perhaps a daily rosary and to make a daily act of Spiritual Communion. 
  There are countless storms the Church has weathered throughout history. Plagues, famines, wars and persecutions, it is in them that She has flourished – devotion increased and understanding deepened.
  
  

  What is a “Spiritual Communion?”
  

  For various reasons throughout the Church’s history the faithful have been prevented from receiving the Eucharist in the Mass. Many of the great Saints made an act of spiritual communion when this as the case. The Church encourages us to make such an act where we unite ourselves to God through prayer. It is a beautiful way to express to God our desire to be united with him when we are unable to complete that union in the reception of Holy Communion.

An Act of Spiritual Communion Prayer:

My Jesus,

I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.

I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul.

Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at

least spiritually into my heart.

I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly

to You.

Never permit me to be separated from You.

Amen.