Michael Kelly
An old Irish superstition is that at the stroke of midnight on December 31, those seeking good luck were recommended to enter their house through the front door and leave through the back. It’s not obvious to me how that particular custom arose, but like many superstitions the origins are clouded in a combination of myth and tradition.
Undiluted
This year is not one which we will look back on with undiluted pleasure. Covid-19 made 2020 somewhat of an annus horribilis. No-one could have imagined at New Year’s Eve last year that we would’ve had the year we had. And yet there are reasons to be optimistic about the year ahead. The days are already getting longer and a vaccine is being rolled out to those who need it most. Before too long, please God, Covid-19 will be something that we will tell future generations about – those of us who have emerged from the pandemic unscathed, that is. Many people have lost loved ones or had their health compromised. Others have lost their livelihoods or equilibrium.
This is not something we can take lightly or be glib about it.
The crisis has also had a deep impact on the life of the Church. From mid-March Mass was just an online experience for many of us. There was a brief respite in the summer months, but as light turned to autumn darkness the churches were again closed in the Republic. Will all the people who went to Mass before the pandemic return? It’s not at all clear, but research is suggesting that most will. Probably we will lose people who had – in reality – long since given up Faith, but continued to go to Mass out of habit. Gone too will be the cynics who will have concluded that they have not been to Mass in nine months and the sky did not fall in.
New normal
As things start to get back to normal (not the ‘new normal’ – there is nothing normal about being locked in our homes unable to attend Mass), parishes will want to think creatively about how we can invite people back. Perhaps we might think of setting aside one particular Sunday as a day of thanksgiving for those of us who have been delivered from this pestilence. Maybe parish pastoral councils could deliver invites to every home in the parish. An extra special effort could be made in the liturgy and the music, and perhaps those who have become stewards supervising sanitary measures could take on a ministry of welcoming people. It might be an idea to organise a cup of tea afterwards and invite people to stay around and chat with their fellow parishioners. It could be the beginning of a journey for people to explore their faith or the practice of their religion afresh.
There’s a lot of tiredness in the Church in Ireland, that is understandable – but we cannot allow it to inform our thinking about everything. “You can be good without going to Mass,” a priest told me a little while ago. Of course, he’s right – the point is self-evident. But if people are not attending Mass and participating in the sacraments then they are missing something that Christ willed to help them on the human journey.
Importance
We need to reassert the central importance of the celebration of the Eucharist in the life of our parish communities. Either intentionally or otherwise, the Church’s response to the pandemic has given the impression to at least some people that going to Mass doesn’t really matter. It is alarming to see that some priests have publicly adopted this position in the guise of an excessive caution. If the message becomes that Mass doesn’t matter, don’t be surprised if the market gets the message.
Happy new year – come Holy Spirit.