don't curse the darkness, light a candle

I've seen great sadness and dismay over the cancellation of religious services (especially Catholic Masses) due to Coronavirus. I think this sadness rightly arises from a desire to let Christ govern our lives, and an awareness that one ordinary means we honor His kingship is through worshipping with other believers. The last few days, I've been thinking about what it means to continue to allow Christ to govern our lives when we're deprived of this ordinary means.

If your bishop, priest, or pastor has cancelled services or if you have decided it is imprudent to attend services, it’s ok to be upset and to acknowledge this as a source of suffering. God made us communal beings and called us to worship together. God made us incarnational beings and called us to receive His grace through the sacraments. Communal worship and sacraments are good, and so temporarily losing access to them is rightfully a cause of sorrow.

You may think this decision is the product of collusion between diabolically-influenced clerics and the Illuminati. You may think this decision is an unnecessary measure taken by authorities who generally have folks' best interests at heart and sometimes slip up through fear or misinformation.You may think this is a wise decision made by a legitimate authority.

Regardless, coronavirus does not void that which is our privilege and duty: to consecrate the Lord’s day. If we become so upset over the situation that we forget that the hour or two we would have spent at church still belongs to God, Satan is pleased. Not the goal, I'm pretty sure, regardless of which of the three above categories you fall into. If (like me), you're not accustomed to sitting down to an hour+ of private prayer in a single go, a few ideas (not to be limited to Sunday, either!):

-Pray for a grace-filled outcome to this situation. Pray especially for those who are critically ill, doctors lacking needed rest or in positions to make difficult ethical decisions, and those who will be financially and materially hurt by the lock down. Pray for the wisdom to know your responsibility in helping provide for your community.

-Spend time reading and meditating on Scripture.

-If your church uses a cycle of readings, read those Scriptures alongside your fellow believers, in spirit if not in body. (Catholics, Magnificat, which has the Mass readings and reflections on them, has been made available online for free: https://us.magnificat.net/free!!)

-Spend time in listening silence away from technology

-Do some non-Scriptural spiritual reading

-Listen to or sing hymns and praise music

-Watch or listen to a Mass (if you’re Catholic) or another service (if you’re not) online, on TV, or on the radio

-Check your church website to see if your pastor has posted (or ask if he would be willing to post) a reflection or sermon on the Sunday Scriptures

-Pray with your family. "Where two or three are gathered" doesn't only apply to non-blood-relations.

Beautifully, too, because this is a cause of suffering, we can particularly heed the command of Paul to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice.” There are many who experience a desert of communal worship and sacrament on a far more regular basis who can use our prayers and sacrifices at this time:

-those who are currently struggling (spiritually, physically, or materially) who have not had the church reach out to offer them support

-those who do not attend religious services at all because they have never heard the Gospel, or have never heard of God's love from people whose witness is convicting

-those who love God, but who do not live in an area where they have weekly (or even monthly, or yearly) access to the sacraments

-those who desire to receive the Eucharist but currently do not because of irregular marital circumstances

-those who have left the church because of abuse (or any lesser failure on the part of members of the church to live out Christ's self-sacrificial love)

-those who have sought and been unable to find a robust church community that is both welcoming and challenging

Also, I'm personally thankful at this time that at least I don't live in the Middle Ages, when interdicts were imposed on cities and entire regions for political squabbles that usually had little to do with the conduct or interests of those who ended up deprived of the sacraments. Nothing like a little history to keep things in perspective.