Online Masses help priests continue
to connect people to God
By John Shaughnessy
Father Chris Wadelton offered an interesting personal perspective
as the archdiocese and many parishes across central and southern
Indiana provide online Masses in response to the coronavirus crisis.
First, he acknowledged the challenge of not being able to celebrate
Mass with his parishioners in the pews.
“I don’t think I realized how much I feed off the energy of the people
during a Mass. When I am able to see people’s faces and their reactions,
I can see I’m making a connection, and that motivates me.”
At the same time, he said he has received “a lot of good feedback” from
people for the online Masses—five in English each week, three in
Spanish—that he has celebrated since March 18, the day when all
public Masses in the archdiocese were ended until further notice.
Father Todd Riebe has been pleasantly surprised that many people
taken advantage of online Mass opportunities during this time.
“It points to a hunger in people for spirituality and a desire for that c
onnectedness with God and with one another that parish life offers us,
” said Father Riebe, pastor of Christ the King Parish and administrator of
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, both in Indianapolis.
“It doesn’t matter that the quality of our online services will most probably
not win any Oscars for technical achievement. What matters is that it
brings us home to our parish. And we all know, ‘There’s no place like h
ome!’ I think an increased use of technology at the parish level will
be one of the blessings that will emerge from the present situation.”
Father Tony Hollowell shares an online Sunday Mass as the administrator
of St. Paul Parish in Tell City and St. Mark Parish in Perry County. He said
he misses the personal connection of celebrating Mass together with his
parishioners in church.
“It is a real loss, but even in the midst of that loss, the Mass is very
beautiful, because Christ remains truly present,” he said. Then he
added, “I have heard from others that it does give them a sense of
being connected, which in turn gives me a sense of being connected.”
While the coronavirus crisis has led to changing approaches in the Church,
these priests say the heart of their lives are still focused on two goals:
keeping their connection with their parishioners and keeping them connected
to God.
“As a parish, we are trying our best to remain connected with as many people
as possible, even if it is just a quick phone call, to let them know they are in
our thoughts and prayers,” Father Wadelton said. “This has been nice.”
Father Riebe views this time as an opportunity to find a new path of faith to
be there for others.
“When people ask me what I love most about being a priest, ‘people’ is always
at the top of that list,” he said. “We priests are blessed beyond measure as
people open their lives to us in the happiest of moments of their lives and in
most difficult of moments of their lives. Our days are literally filled with people.
“While the pandemic has necessarily closed some doors to us, it has opened
others. A good part of my day is now spent on the telephone, and sending and
to text messages and e-mails. By the middle of every day, I am recharging my
cell phone. Where there is a will, there is a way.
“In these days, only caller ID can protect parishioners from their pastors!” †
Related story: Priests offer a unifying message: ‘It is in times like these
credt : Archdiocese of Indianapolis Online
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