Sometimes a person doesn’t realize how discouraged they are until they’re lifted out of it.

Last week was a discouraging week without my even being aware of it. Over the past month, I’ve felt like I’m getting by OK without actually attending Mass. But intellectually I know this is false, just as someone can feel healthy even though their body is actually out of whack, to be confirmed when bad news is delivered by the doctor.

In the same way, TV Mass can feel like a suitable temporary compromise. And as faith-related events that I usually look forward to, like the March for Life, become virtual events, I tell myself the online version will be just as cool.

Then came last weekend’s shooting rampage in Nova Scotia. As the death toll continued to rise, I felt more numb than depressed. I saw the nation coming together and Canadians responding with heartfelt condolences. It seemed a beautiful response to horrific violence.

Yet under the surface, our nation that appears healthy is showing some troubling signs, and it only takes a look at a couple of recent surveys by the Angus Reid Institute to confirm it.

For instance, a survey last week found few Canadians seem to care whether churches are open or closed.

“A miniscule percentage of the 1,912 people who took part in the survey say that reopening places of worship should be a priority,”  reported Bryan Dryden of Canadian Catholic News.

Canadians’ priority, according to the survey? Reopening parks (50 per cent of respondents). Then comes offices/workplaces (46 per cent), followed by retail stores at 26 per cent, golf courses at 14 per cent, and salons/personal care businesses at 13 per cent.

Golf courses and barbers rate higher for Canadians than churches and synagogues.

In fact the only way we even know how many Canadians consider houses of worship a top priority is that Dryden asked Angus Reid executive director Shachi Kurl. After checking the results in the “other” category, Kurl admitted “Fewer than one per cent of people wrote in ‘churches’ or ‘house of worship.’”

So it’s no surprise that another Angus Reid survey — oh, Angus Reid. I used to be such a fan. Now all you seem to do is deliver news that upsets me — found Canadians have some bewildering moral beliefs. For instance, more Canadians say sharing a streaming account without paying is morally wrong than consider assisted suicide (20 per cent) or abortion (26 per cent) wrong.

As for what Canadians find most reprehensible: having affairs, cheating on taxes, and scientific testing on animals.

Angus Reid attributes much of the difference of opinion over morality to “the fluidity of moral definitions in Canada.” For example, while only 16 per cent of Canadians believe in moral absolutes, 43 per cent say there are moral guidelines, while 41 per cent say there are moral grey areas that leave many of these decisions up to the individual.

And that is why it came as a bright spot Thursday when the Canadian and U.S. bishops announced they were going to consecrate their nations to the Blessed Virgin May 1 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another unexpected boost came later in the day when I learned from columnist Father Anthony Ho that a marathon national novena for Canada is beginning next week.

And just that quickly, I was uplifted, even though I hadn’t realized I needed a lift. 

To see that the bishops of Canada and the U.S. are coordinating an international outreach to Mary, along with other countries, and that thousands of Canadians (the goal is 10,000)  are expected to sign up to pray the 54-Days Novena for Canada, certainly did my soul good.

Nothing comes close to the sacraments, but in their absence we need something to direct our hearts and minds toward God. 

One of the best quotes I read last week came from Father Nicolas Steeves, who said we need to remember “God wants to save me at every given moment … he doesn’t want to save me less now than he did when Mass was available, when we could avail ourselves of all the sacraments.”

That message was driven home by two unexpected but very welcome reminders that God’s still in charge.