The cardinal archbishop of Washington has tested positive for COVID and he’s been on lockdown for several days. This reflection comes from Catholic Standard:
Not only am I at home during my quarantine seclusion, many of the people of the DMV have been homebound because of the snow events this past week. This is my first significant D.C. snowfall. Moreover, while my hometown of Chicago might be able to manage these snow accumulations rather easily, for those of us without a lot of experience in handling heaps of snow, we find it a great challenge. I have been told that people in our area reach near hyper-alarm when lots of snow falls. These winter weather events were further complicated by the surge in pandemic cases.
Our tendency might be to hoard when our faith response calls for us to share. Snowfalls also dramatically increase the difficulties for our homeless neighbors. The DMV is ordinarily a milder climate region, but winter weather changes that advantage for those who live on our streets and under viaducts and bridges. This past week must have been particularly challenging for our archdiocesan Catholic Charities and other social service outreach efforts as they tried to respond to the increased need for clothing and shelter. I know that our parishioners have established and amplified food pantries and shelter assistance efforts in response to the pandemic, and these now are more needed than they might have been before the snowfalls of this past week. I invite us all to support those worthy expressions of charity and outreach for the poor.
As I pray and offer Mass each day in my chapel, my heart is filled with images of the folks of our Archdiocese – our kids, seniors, clergy, and religious. Those images have managed to make these days something of a retreat for me. I am also aware of the experience of being sidelined along with many others because of this virus. If nothing else, I have rediscovered how to run a washing machine and a dryer – a skill that most of our priests probably have had to learn as well!
Related: Cardinal Gregory has COVID
