The opening line of a Tale of Two Cities comes to mind when I think about the pandemic and our parish, except it’s neither been the best of times nor the worst of times.
But there has been much good amidst the suffering caused by isolation. The virus itself, thanks be to God, has infected very few parishioners, although sadly one elderly man has died.
I mentioned in a recent homily that the word isolation comes from the Italian isola, meaning island. If there’s anything we’ve learned at Christ the Redeemer it’s that Christians are not meant to be stranded on an island, cut off from one another. As a result, we’ve made every effort to give people opportunities for contact not only with the Lord but with their fellow parishioners.
The success of these efforts has been wonderful to see. When we were permitted 50 people at a time, we created a system called Every Parishioner Every Sunday. Everyone who wanted to attend Mass could do so every second week, participate via live feed to the gym and receiving Communion the other week.
What was truly wonderful was this: everything we’ve done, from proliferating Zoom calls to the Sunday plan, was made possible by teamwork. Although we had dedicated staff, a core team, and generous parish volunteers before the pandemic, I don’t think we fully realized how they could mobilize to face any challenge.
I don’t think the parish will ever be the same after seeing what these amazing people were capable of as we faced constantly changing circumstances.
The discouraging side of things – beyond the constantly changing circumstances themselves – was the discovery that some parishioners did not take part in any of the initiatives.
Even that, I have to say, has a positive side. We know just what we need to do when things go back to “normal.” We need to invite people back with irresistible warmth and to find new ways of engaging them in the richness of parish life.
The best of times? The worst of times? Neither – but God is certainly working for good in all things at this distressing time.
Msgr. Gregory Smith is director of the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s Permanent Diaconate Office and pastor of Corpus Christi in West Vancouver.