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SOME INSPIRING WORDS FROM OUR BISHOP:
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As anxiety and concerns about the possible spread of COVID-19 takes root throughout this land and so much of the world, the Lord is speaking to us, calling us to a deeper relationship with him. This age may seem to be a time of fear and isolation, but we have an opportunity to see it in a new light, as a retreat into the desert with Our Lord and to encounter God in solitude and prayer. As Psalm 91 says: “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the plague that prowls in the darkness, nor the scourge that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand fall at your right, you it will never approach; his faithfulness is buckler and shield.”…. As a suspension of all public celebrations of Mass, on Sundays, holy days and weekdays in the Diocese of Richmond takes place, and as the days grow longer and the light of spring begins to shine, opening our eyes to the goodness of God, I invite all the faithful in their homes and in the solitude of their hearts to draw close to Christ our light in prayer and interior desire for the Lord who dwells within our hearts– asking for the grace of forgiveness, recovery of our spiritual sight and of an awakening of desire for God to be strengthened within us.
This weekend, during a private celebration of Mass at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and in the midst of our Jubilee year, I will celebrate Mass without a congregation, asking God’s grace and forgiveness, consecrating our diocese to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate heart of Mary. So that you may join me in this moment, it will be streamed live for the faithful.
Bishop’s message March 2020
