By Eric Martin
Last week witnessed a new chapter in the spread of the Coronavirus, (COVID-19), as places of worship, including Catholic churches, were closed down on the order of the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, to slow the spread of the pandemic across Australia.
In response to this distressing news, devastating for so many devoted Catholics, Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB mobilised the world of digital communication of the Archdiocese to ensure that West Australians are still able to participate in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Last weekend, Sunday 22 March, saw the first in a series of livestream broadcasts of Sunday Mass produced for the faithful of Perth.
“At a time when the whole world seems to be falling into a darkness of fear and uncertainty as the Coronavirus spreads among us, we read in this Sunday’s Liturgy that Jesus is the bringer of light,” Archbishop Costelloe SDB said during his first live homily.
“’As long as I am in the world”, says Jesus, “I am the light of the world’.
“It is good for us to hear these words from Jesus today and take them to heart: they are words of hope and they are an invitation to deepen our faith, our trusting faith, in the Lord,” he explained.
“He is with us in our darkest moments and if we let him take us by the hand he will lead us, in his way and in his time, into the light. He will do this for us as individuals, and he will do this for us as families, as communities, and as a society – if we let him.
“It is only through faith in God, who is made known to us in Jesus, that we can make any sense of what is happening and find our way to a deep serenity which will sustain us in the weeks and months ahead.”
Churches have now been completely closed, with no parishioners allowed to visit and enter the buildings of God, no longer just for Mass but also for adoration, confession and prayer.
“Even though, precisely because we must care for each other and protect each other, we are not able to come together to celebrate Mass and receive the Lord in the Eucharist, we know that we are not deprived of his care, of his love, of his consoling and healing and strengthening presence,” His Grace said.
“We can invite him (Jesus) into our lives and into our hearts at any and every moment of the day. Do we believe even for a minute that he would not answer that prayer?
“Circumstances mean that we are, for the moment, deprived of Jesus as the Bread of Life and, as long as this lasts may we all, instead, invite him into our hearts as the Light of the world.
“And as we do, may a deep hunger for the Bread of Life grow within us so that, when we do once again hear the priest or minister, as the Sacred Host is held before us, say “the Body of Christ”, we will recognise the true presence of the Lord and welcome him as the one who comes to strengthen us for all that lies ahead.”
The next Sunday Mass to be livestreamed and celebrated by Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SDB will be broadcast Sunday 29 March, commencing at 11am via the Archdiocesan website, YouTube and Facebook.
Archdiocesan website: http://www.perthcatholic.org.au/Our_Archdiocese-Archbishop-Videos.htm
Archdiocesan YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/CatholicArchdioceseofPerth
Archdiocesan Facebook: www.facebook.com/perthcatholic