Challenges Catholics Face during COVID-19: Your Questions Answered

Jesus wants to meet us in our uncertainty, our fears, and our disappointments. He wants to do something in our souls. In all of this, he’s inviting us to rely more on him and not on ourselves. On today’s special edition podcast, my wife Beth joins me to address unique challenges Catholics are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We respond to listener questions about financial fears, the dangers of working outside the home when one has vulnerable family members, discernment without time before the Blessed Sacrament, and diocesan recommendations to receive Communion on the hand. We then give you tips to help you respond with openness to the graces the Lord wants to bring to you during this time.

Snippet from the Show

Jesus wants to meet us in our uncertainty, our fears, and our disappointments. He wants to do something in our souls. In all of this, he’s inviting us to rely more on him and not on ourselves. 

Listener Questions 

(4:10) Question 1: I’m a father with financial fears for the future. How can I deepen trust in the Lord’s providence? 

• St. Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6-8 “Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand.  Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

(10:27) Question 2: My newborn with health problems is particularly vulnerable, but I’m still being asked to go to work outside the home. What do I do?

(13:55) Question 3: I’m in the midst of discerning my vocation, and now I don’t have access to the Blessed Sacrament. Will I still be able to hear the Lord’s voice? 

(16:50) Question 4: Bishops everywhere are asking the faithful to receive on the hand, but it just feels so irreverent and awkward. Do I have to listen? 

The Christian Response to Our Times

• Make a Spiritual Sacrifice
  • If you’re able to watch Mass on TV, watch in real time if you can 
  • Make a “spiritual sacrifice” when you watch the words of consecration, unite your entire life still with Christ’s sacrifice made present in the Mass
    
• Make a Spiritual Communion
  • Cultivates a deeper expression and desire to be one with your Beloved Jesus in Communion
    
  • St. Teresa of Jesus – “When you do not receive communion and you do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion, which is a most beneficial practice; by it the love of God will be greatly impressed on you.”
    
  • Prayer:
    “My Jesus, 
    I believe that You
    Are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. 
    I love You above all things, 
    And I desire to receive You into my soul. 
    Since I cannot at this moment
    Receive You sacramentally, 
    Come at least spiritually into my heart.
    I embrace You as if You were already there and
    Unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me
    to be separated from You.”
    Amen.
    

• Focus on Love of Neighbor vs. Anxiety
  • Anxiety leads you to focus on yourself.  We need to fight the urge to become self-focused and look for ways to love our neighbor and reach out to those in need. 

Resources: 

• Visit Dr. Sri’s website at https://edwardsri.com/ 
• Subscribe to our show by texting “allthingscatholic” to 33-777
• Find more of Dr. Sri’s episodes at ascensionpress.com/allthingscatholic 
• Previous Episode: “The Coronavirus and Missing Sunday Mass”
• The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila
• “Man’s First Fall”, CCC 397