There are countless heartbreaking stories that have emerged from this year of living through the pandemic. Death, isolation, fear, anxiety, and confusion are all realities that have become part of the lives of almost every human being in the world.

Like so many people in the world, the members of our Redemptorist community have not been able to get home to their families over the course of the year. Zoom and live streaming have become a way of life even for those of us whose greatest skill in computer technology is turning the computer on.

St. Mary’s Parish is one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. We have two churches, two schools with more than 1,300 students, and in the pre-pandemic days, about 5,500 people attending our English and Spanish Masses.

 

Our Redemptorist community consisting of nine confreres has moved from being incredibly active to lockdown, to slowly emerging back to life. As is the norm, we must have six feet apart for all those who attend our Masses. So our Churches can only allow about 60 worshippers at our St. Mary’s Church and approximately 200 attendees at St. John Neumann.

Over the past months, we have celebrated baptisms, first communions, Mass, Confirmation, weddings and funerals. We were having two outdoor Masses on Sundays and they were very popular. A few parishioners were upset when I told them we had to stop in November, but my hands were beginning to freeze! We started outdoor Masses again on Palm Sunday and had an Easter Sunday sunrise service at 6:30 a.m.

All our clergy have the vaccine and more and more of our parishioners have also received the vaccine.

There is much talk about schools being open. Our elementary school has been open five days a week since September; our high school opened with half of the students attending in-school and the other half doing online learning at home. They then alternated.

For the last few months, though, our high school has had full time in-school learning. I am so proud of our teachers. Like so many others during this pandemic, I consider them heroes.

We Redemptorists value serving our people wherever we are with a spirit of announcing plentiful redemption poured out by our loving Trinity. We also place a high value on community living. Oftentimes, I may have taken this gift of sharing life and mission with others in community for granted. I can say that I have never appreciated it as much as I have this year.

We are a community made of up two priests from Vietnam, one from India, one from Paraguay, one from Grenada, two from the United States and two from the strange land of Brooklyn. We do not always agree on our sports teams, even though I have tried to outlaw all Yankee paraphernalia, nor do we all agree on politics.

From time to time, we may tell the same story we told again andagain. But we pray together daily. We have meals together. There is great laughter and humor in our gatherings. Confreres have been cooking, baking, shopping, live-steaming, driving others to the doctors, and countless other loving acts.

None of us can complain of isolation. One moment of many that will always stay with me was when we discussed being safe in ourministry; the youngest confrere spoke up: “I will go to the hospitalsand to homes if there is serious illness. I will not put any of youolder men at risk.” How blessed we are to be Redemptorists.

By Fr. Patrick Woods, C.Ss.R. (Courtesy of Baltimore Beacon.)