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Outlines the canceling of mass times in response to coronavirus
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This share plans to return to worship
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The switch from normal life to quarantine life was rough on all of us, for a lot of different reasons. Our school lives, our personal lives, and some of our jobs were wildly altered, if not put on hold entirely. Businesses floundered, parents panicked as they had to figure out how to homeschool their children, and many of us had to worry about where the next paycheck would come from. Life as we knew it changed- and this was no different for most of our religious lives.
However, the transition from in-person religious services to remote ones was actually pretty smooth in my small town of North Ridgeville, Ohio. My parish leaders went out of their way to make sure that everyone stayed engaged with their faith and connected to the Church community. Particularly for the teens at the church, those of us who had previously been in the Church Youth Group, there were a lot of online events and group activities planned and advertised online, so that we might continue to live out our Faith, and remain in the Catholic Community. All things considered, my parish (Saint Peter’s) really handled it like a bunch of champs.
They continued to hold church services, which you could watch live or after the fact, and the sermons delivered were so encouraging and motivational. I think that the pastors did some of their best work while we were in quarantine. They even provided something called “spiritual communion”, a specific prayer that expresses one's desire to receive the Eucharist. If one performs the prayer with sincerity in their heart, special blessings and graces would be bestowed upon them, much like in the actual act of receiving the Eucharist.
They also provided frequent drive-thru confessions, which consisted of making the sacrament of reconciliation with one of the pastors through your open window, right in the parking lot of the church. They also posted videos of the monstrance, displaying the Eucharist during Adoration.
Some of the activities planned for the teens at our parish were lowkey things; a weekly discussion around a specific religious theme, followed by a game or two of Mafia over zoom. We all got really creative and made some backgrounds for these events. A couple of people even designed their own grave stone so that if/when they were killed by the mafia, they would have the appropriate commemorative image ready. Sometimes, even the pastors would join! It was a nice way to have a real, relaxed discussion about the state of the world, and how to keep in touch with one’s Faith during these troubled times.
Some of the activities were more serious and traditionally centered. For example, our Youth Minister introduced us to a workshop on the topic of Theology of the Body, which was hosted on Facebook in the form of a series of instructional videos on different topics under the general category of Theology of the Body.
When we were all given clearance to return back to religious services, the church continued to take it all very seriously. They cordoned off every other pew to encourage social distancing, had ushers at the ready to guide people to seating that offered six feet of space between each family. They provided hand sanitizer at the door, as well as plenty of face masks, which they required everyone to wear at all times within the church doors. Singing was prohibited, to prevent people from getting out of breath and feeling the need to take off their masks, and the temperature was closely monitored to avoid making people want to remove their masks due to the heat. After each church service, they had very clear instructions on how to exit the church, to avoid any rough situations or breaches in social distancing codes, and then a trained team would thoroughly clean everything before the next service. In addition to all of this care that they took for everyone who attended in-person services, they also continued to live stream each mass and record it all to be watched later on for anyone who had to stay home due to illness, chose to stay home to avoid contamination, or just couldn’t make it for any other reason.
When Church services resumed in person, so did Youth Group meetings! They were mostly outdoors, as the gatherings usually consisted of more than 10 people, and adhered to strict social distancing rules. They hosted some nice bonfires, as well as some projected movie nights. They even threw a nice little going away party for our pastor, Father Andrew, who was being transferred to another Church.
I also happen to know that the school affiliated with the Church just returned to in person classes, and they’re handling it quite well!
So, all in all, Saint Peter’s Parish did a really good job of staying connected with their community while also maintaining the COVID-19 related requirements at the time. They provided a supportive community where you could stay in touch with your Faith without ever actually entering the church doors- until we could! This isn’t to say that every Roman Catholic Parish was exactly like this, but I think ours did a pretty good job.
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This response takes an interesting approach to the pandemic, as it describes the dangers of the virus, while maintaining a certain level of optimism for the future. Also, Pastor Ben Adams uses scripture in order to tie global circumstances with the word of God.
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This sermon illustrates the unknown nature of the virus, while maintaining the integrity of the Jewish faith. It also describes the issues that arise with the inability to gather amongst each other.
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The Covid pandemic has brought an enormous amount of uncertainty to religious groups all over the world. In a time of an undetermined future most people would turn to their faith for help. This pandemic made turning to one’s faith very difficult. I grew up in a Catholic household where I attended Catholic school for fifteen years of my life. Every Sunday I would wake up for Church where I professed my faith alongside my immediate family and my grandparents. Due to Covid, people all over the world with all different religions were not welcomed in their place of worship. To grow up thinking that church is a place where God will never turn you away, was definitely an adjustment when the pandemic hit. Obviously it was not a problem with the church or with me, but the feeling of being turned down from a place I only knew as being welcomed was extremely difficult. I can only imagine that various religious affiliations around the world had members feeling the same. There was so much uncertainty and devastation in the world and no one knew where to turn. I was grateful to have been stuck quarantining with my mother, my father, and my brother. These three people reminded me that family is the most important thing in life. It made me think about the people who were alone during that extremely lonely experience. My family would continue to gather on Sunday’s and talk about our religion. When it became offered my family would watch Church on the news every Sunday. April rolled around and it meant it was my Mom’s birthday. My mother is the most religious out of our family. She is always asking herself, “what would Jesus do?” My mother turns to positivity when the going gets tough. She will always tell us that, “the energy you put out in the universe is the energy you will get back.” My dad, brother, and I knew that not being able to go to Church was very difficult for her. We had the idea of bringing Church to her. Her birthday just so happened to land on a Sunday morning. We woke her up with the news that our priest from our parish was going to say mass for us and then join us for dinner. There were obvious Covid precautions taken before and during this event that was held. Even with those slight adjustments, my mother had a weight lifted off of her shoulders. She was pleasantly reminded of why her faith is so important to her and why she continued to wake up every Sunday morning and continue to worship that faith. It is the little things in life that people are beginning to be thankful for in a time of such distress. This story is eye opening not only to those who share the same religious beliefs, but to those who turn to a light in a time of darkness and uncertainty.
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My family, as a unit, is not deeply connected to religious faith and the beliefs of the catholic church. We affiliate with the catholic church and follow the basic yearly calendar of holidays, sacred days, and other forms of celebration or worship that coincide with the catholic church. Although we affiliate, we do not actively participate in our religious community. We don’t go to church weekly or even really on the holidays. We don’t pray every time we eat or expect each other to pray those prayers learned from the church. I pray my own individual prayers independently from whatever my immediate relatives do with their forms of worship. Since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, my family was not super impacted as we weren’t attending mass face-to-face in the church. We used to be more involved, but now our involvement has not changed since the cancellation of gatherigs due to COVID-19. One thing we did do for the first time, though, was follow along with mass on Easter Sunday. We normally do not attend mass on Easter Sunday as it is a huge holiday and many families go to mass. The church is usually packed and we often end up having to stand in the back. Ever since I can remember, we haven’t gone to church on Easter Sunday or followed along with a mass. This year, though, the vatican did a virtual mass with English translation. My family seemed to become more interested in the idea of virtual mass and actually practicing and investing in our faith due to the greater accessibility of the mass ceremony because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We sat together in front of the television and actually followed along with the entire Easter mass that was conducted at the vatican church in Italy. While we had to follow the English translation, our family was usually not invested on Easter in religious practices. Because of COVID-19 and mass being online, my family practiced some religious activities unlike they would if Easter mass was only conducted in person. The increase in accessibility to and flexibility of practicing religion virtually and in one’s own home may provide other families with the same experience my family had. We have become more invested in religious practices and attending mass since it has become a virtual event rather than taking the time to get ready, drive to the church, take part in mass, and drive back home. COVID-19 may be causing less gatherings, but it has provided more resources virtually for people to practice their faith and be active in religious groups without actually being present in the church and community.
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I found this sermon interesting because the pastor tested positive for COVID-19 and still preached a sermon by recording himself at his house (23:34).
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Paul Amadeus Lane interviews Robert J. Hendriks III US spokesman for the Jehovah's Witnesses about the religion as a whole as well as discusses the impact of COVID on the church.
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As a practicing Jew, I connected to this article because my family has also been anticipating the coming high holidays. As COVID-19 has shut down our temples and gatherings, it will be very strange to celebrate these holidays differently from our ancient traditions.
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Covid-19 has most definitely brought out the best in some people. The acts of selflessness and help towards the community were brought out during these hard times.
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Comment on submission: Not sure if this URL is going to always reflect the pandemic, so I made a PDF with 4 sermons that did talk about the pandemic.
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When I was younger, I would wake up to the holiday of Eid al-adha to presents, a lavish breakfast, and getting all dolled up to head down to the mosque for the special Eid prayer to then spend the rest of the day with friends and family. Unfortunately, this important holiday was spent six feet apart and wrapped up in masks.
The day before Eid, my dad sat all of us down and told my family how this year would work, considering the mosque was able to open back up with certain regulations regarding the pandemic. At first I was so excited to hear that we were allowed back there, until he began telling us that we have to keep our masks on the entire time, you won’t be allowed to stick around and socialize afterwards, and we have to remain a certain distance apart from each other at all times. I started to reminisce on the thousands of people of all different backgrounds that would always come to Eid prayer, if anything else. I took for granted how significant this day is for Muslims once it actually came, and none of us could celebrate it the way it should be celebrated.
Once I got there, we immediately had someone come up to us to take our temperature, make sure we were sanitized, and gave us each masks if need be. He guided us into the mosque, and to my astonishment, the beautiful place of worship I’ve known since I was a kid was all marked up with placeholders that were each six feet apart to tell us where we were able to sit. We got in, completed our traditional prayer, and left. The energy was not how it usually was in there. The minute I come inside the mosque, there are always people greeting me and waving, and the whole room is buzzing with laughter and smiling faces, but this year everyone's countenance was masked.
Our Imam told us to never lose hope, and that we will all be able to look back at this and remind ourselves how far we have come together. The pandemic has truly caused the Muslim community to become more and more grateful for everything they have, because it can all be taken away in the blink of an eye.
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The holy month of Ramadan comes every year and brings an abundance of joy and connection to each other at the mosque. Taraweeh is the additional prayer after Isha prayer at night where everyone would pray together from 11 pm and would end around 1 or 2 am. This was held every night of Ramadan. Due to COVID-19 our mosque was closed for the holiday this year. This was the first time in years our mosque has been closed down. Instead of meeting in person live streams were held of the Taraweeh prayer.
I remember being crammed by hundreds of other women as we prayed side by side for hours. The children run around in the shoe room so they wouldn’t distract those praying. The breaks between prayers when you would socialize with your friends and mothers spoke to each other. After the long prayer was over I would follow a single file line out the busy doors and then there would be food tents set up that everyone would gather at. Grabbing a plate and filling up your plate with fruits, delicious foods made by the community, and sitting around with my friends. My mother would come outside with a plate in her hand as well and say that it’s time to go home. By this time it was around midnight. We would leave and the next night was the same thing. This year praying Taraweeh to a live stream in my empty living room was hard. The change was drastic and didn’t even feel real. The vibe of the month was off and very isolating. There was no connection within the community and to the holiday this year because of COVID-19.
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"Editor’s note: This is part nine in a series of counsel from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak."
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"Editor’s note: This is part seven in a series of counsel from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak."
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"Editor’s note: This is part six in a series of counsel from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak."
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"Editor’s note: This is part five in a series of counsel from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak."
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"Editor’s note: This is part four in a series of counsel from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak."
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"Editor's Note: This is part three in a series of counsel from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak."
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"Editor’s note: This is part two in a series of counsel from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak."
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Yoga Worshiping
One day, this past summer, I awoke from bed due to the noise of my mom yelling for my brothers and I to come downstairs. We all sat at the table and while we were eating breakfast my mom asked us if we wanted to do something on the upcoming Sunday. Our local church was holding a sermon on their outside lawn and they invited everyone to come and bring their yoga matts and socially distance. My family hadn’t been to a church service for quite a while. The last time we went was right before the start of spring. We talked about it and decided it would be a good idea to get closer with God due to all of the negativity surrounding the pandemic going on. Later that day my mom went out to the grocery store and bought us all yoga matts to sit on while listening to the pastor.
Upon arrival to our church we noticed that many others also thought it would be a good idea to get out of the house and worship. We laid our matts down, away from other families and got comfortable for the upcoming service. The pastor started out with making a few jokes of how he wishes everyone could meet under better circumstances. Throughout the ceremony, I looked around and saw a multitude of smiles on all of the different families faces. I thought to myself how lucky we still are with the pandemic happening, that we can all still be together, (at a safe distance) to come together and praise our God. In the end, my family and I were very glad we decided to attend. I would recommend for more churches to do this to help some people through the harsh times we face today.