I have received incredible consolation over the last three weeks as I have driven around Bellingham to provide the Eucharist to our parishioners or as I have received different families on the back porch of the parish offices for Eucharistic visits. First and foremost, this is because people are receiving the sacraments, even in lockdown! Nothing will ever bring a priest more joy than knowing that his people are receiving and responding to the grace of Jesus Christ. Second, I have received great consolation just from visiting with many of you again, including some with whom I had not been able to visit previously. A diocesan priest is rooted in his community, and I feel like those roots have been watered anew.
But, maybe most profoundly of all, I have been consoled by hearing that, for many of you, this has been a time of spiritual growth. Intellectually, I know that the God who loves us endlessly never stops working for our good. But after the tenth or twentieth person told me that, in the last two months, they have grown closer to the Mass and more dedicated to prayer, I finally had to admit that maybe the work of Jesus is more than just theoretical. Maybe the Lord does, in fact, dwell with his people. Maybe the Lord, though never desiring that they should happen, does use the greatest tragedies to bring about the greatest goods.
Having seen the Lord work, my prayer now is that the fruits of this time of extended retreat will last. It is so easy for us to grow complacent, to forget the lessons that we have learned, and to backslide into old habits. We have, paradoxically, been given a great gift of grace during this COVID-19 crisis. Please pray with me that this grace will not have been in vain.
Fr. Moore 