-
Dear Parishioners and Friends of the Portland Peninsula and Island Parishes,
My mother has been quite ill lately and has been in and out of the hospital several times. It has been pretty scary. I cannot tell you how much I wanted her to not be in the hospital with the arrival of COVID-19. The thought of her being exposed to it made me afraid. I imagine many of you are also feeling afraid right now. That is only natural. As we have been preparing for Palm Sunday and I have been reflecting on the Passion narrative from St. Matthew, I noticed in a new way how St. Matthew tells us that Jesus had emotions similar to ours now while he was praying in the garden of Gethsemane before he was arrested. St. Matthew also tells us that even though Jesus was afraid, He knew that He had to climb Cavalry to be crucified and be raised from the dead-on Easter and in order to save all of us.
For us, the civil authorities have required us to isolate in our homes. Our church buildings and the Pastoral Center are also now closed. That is all hard for us and a sort of Calvary for us. I imagine, many of you are feeling alone and cut off from your friends, family, and fellow parishioners. I know that it is causing different forms of suffering for many of you. We need to remember, however, that even though this current situation is difficult it is for the good of all of us, not unlike Jesus’s death on the Cross for all of us.
We also need to remember that we are not alone in this. We have each other. Even though we cannot come together as we normally do, we can still be with each other in spirit, love, and prayer. Technology helps with that as we can participate in Sunday Mass at 10 am with the Bishop on-line; in daily Mass at 12:15 each Monday through Friday from the Cathedral on Facebook Live with one of the priests from our Cluster; and other prayer opportunities through on-line resources or other resources you have at home, on television, or the radio. There is information on www.portlandcatholic.org and Facebook about all of that. More importantly, though, the Lord is also always with us and always gives us what we need. We are always in His loving care. Especially during Holy Week and the Easter Season, God knows of our suffering and loves us even more.
All of us at the Pastoral Center wish that we could be with you in person during Holy Week and the Easter season, which is such an important time for all of us. Even though we cannot, Fr. Kevin, Fr. Dominic, and I are keeping all of you in prayer and keeping all of those people who are being affected by the epidemic in prayer. We also ask that you pray for us and for all of our parishioners at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, St. Christopher’s, St. Louis’s, St. Peter’s, Sacred Heart/St. Dominic’s, and Star of the Sea, so that we can come back together in person as soon as possible.
Let us keep one another in prayer, including those who are directly affected by this virus.
Fr. Greg Dube