Keeping Your Faith Strong During the Corona Virus

Let's face it. Our world as we know it has been flipped upside down in the past month. School has been cancelled in many places, people are frantically buying toilet paper and Lysol wipes, and some of us even find ourselves not being able to attend Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, or the Sacrament of Reconciliation. These are hard times, which means that we need to "lean on God" more than ever, even if we can't do it in the way that we're accustomed to. Here are some things you can do to keep your spiritual life going in the right direction while in isolation...

1. Watch Mass on YouTube. Bishop Robert Barron ( as well as countless other priests ) are recording their private Masses and posting them on YouTube since many people are unable to attend Mass in real-life during this time of isolation. This is the link to Bishop Barron's Mass on the Word On Fire website: https://www.wordonfire.org/daily-mass/

2. Make a spiritual communion. Since some of us cannot physically be at Mass to receive Christ in the Blessed sacrament, we can make a spiritual communion. Saint Thomas Aquinas defines spiritual communion as "an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the most holy sacrament and in lovingly embracing him as if we had received him." Here is the prayer for spiritual communion taken from https://ourcatholicprayers.com:

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

3.Pray the Rosary. Pope Francis has asked us all to pray the Rosary for the healing of the world. Mary told Blessed Alan de la Roche, "You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary." This is so powerful!! Mary is the Great mediatrix and will intercede for us before God. Since it is Lent, we meditate on the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. (The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, and The Crucifixion.) Here is a video giving an overview of the rosary: https://youtu.be/GuT7HI7ZvfA

And here is a website that explains how to pray it: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/rosaries/how-to-pray-the-rosary.cfm

4.Pray The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a prayer that was given to Sister Faustina Kowalska by Jesus in the early 1900s. The Lord told Sister Faustina, "At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the indulgence is the same" (Diary, 811). This is so important, especially right now. People who were fine last week are now dying because of the corona virus. We can help them get to Heaven by praying this chaplet!! Here's a website explaining how to pray it: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet

5.Participate in Project YM Live. This is an amazing resource for teens during the corona virus isolation. Since many youth group events have been cancelled, some pretty amazing adults decided to start an online youth group complete with games, worship, "Catholic Famous" speakers, and prayer. It takes place every Sunday night at 8 p.m. Eastern time until further notice. All you have to do is ask a youth minister, parent or priest to sign up you or your parish. It's super easy to do and a really cool experience! Thousands of teens are coming together to participate in this. 9 thousand people were watching at one point in the program on Sunday night! It was really amazing :-) Here's the link to participate: https://projectym.com/live/

We have no idea what is going to happen in these next few weeks/months and virtually no control over it. The biggest thing we can do right now to stop this pandemic is pray... And of course wash our hands :-)

Keep a lookout for more posts about apps and other things that can strengthen our prayer life in this time of uncertainty. God bless you!