On St. Joseph’s Day, Friday, March 19, I’ll be interviewing New York’s cardinal Timothy M. Dolan about his new book, I Am with You: Lessons of Hope and Courage in Times of Crisis. I think it’s a treasure for those of us who really struggled with not being able to receive the sacraments and to worship God in places of worship last year. Some people, because of their vulnerability, are still in this same spot. Religion is essential, despite the messages sent last March. It’s why some people went to court to stop the erratic restrictions on that which is essential for our souls — and even our mental and physical health.
Full disclosure: This book is very personal to me. I had a very hard time not having access to Mass last spring. I struggled with some real, agonizing depression. I wrote in the foreword to the book that, as hard as it was to do “virtual Mass” when at Mass we are present with Jesus, Cardinal Dolan’s sermons were a real accompaniment, reminding me of the truth I believe but was tempted to despair of during what seemed overly restrictive measures (liquor stores but not churches?).
I wept in prayer for those who were losing loved ones without even being able to be with them or have proper funeral Masses for them. I had no illusions that my pain was anything special or worse than anyone else’s. And yet, I couldn’t shake it. And it did make me pray more for others who were really suffering and didn’t have faith on which to fall back. I also kept thinking: If it’s this hard for me, oh my goodness, the suffering! And then when we heard about the increase in people considering suicide and actually going through with it, I wish I could say I was surprised. Satan delights — in the perverse ways of evil — in despair and wants to strangle us with it.
Don’t let the damned Devil win. Let’s take the right lessons from this past year. Let’s be light in this dark world. On the feast day of St. Joseph, in the week of St. Joseph, in the year of St. Joseph, we’ll look forward in our shared coronavirus experience, evermore certain of the essential nature of religion. Let’s make sure this pandemic experience is a mercy. It’s all in how we choose to go forward.
Join us in an event co-sponsored by the National Review Institute and the Sheen Center at 2 p.m. New York time on Monday. One of the blessings of this time is that we can reach one another virtually — you don’t have to get in a car or pack up a bag. Watch from the convenience of where you are for this virtual event. Details here.
Thank you. God bless you.
And for some more on St. Joseph, my event in advance of St. Joseph’s Day with Magnificat founding editor, Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., can be watched here:
