‘What I missed most about being quarantined was serving at Mass as a deacon’

From The Hawaii Catholic Herald, Deacon Fred Carahasen describes an experience I think many deacons will recognize:

Coming out of quarantine to assist at Mass has been a joyful and humbling experience for me. The last time I served at Mass and preached the homily was Feb. 16. Who would have known that it would not be until June 20 that I would be able to preach again at the ambo.

…Perhaps what I missed most about being quarantined was serving at Mass as a deacon and celebrating the Eucharist with our pastor Father Arnold Ortiz and parochial vicar Father Romple Emwalu. Attending virtual Mass on Sunday did not satisfy my hunger for the real presence of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For me, as well as for all Catholics, the Eucharist is the foundation and summit of our faith. For me especially, the Eucharist is at the very heart of my faith in God. This is what I was missing in my spiritual life during the quarantine.

But as they say, for everything that goes bad in your life there is good that comes out of it. You just have to look for it. This pandemic and quarantine caused me to step back and reflect and take a deeper look into my relationship with Jesus Christ. It caused me to go deeper into my very being, my soul, through prayer, to be silent and to listen to Christ with my heart.

This deeper prayer and awareness of Christ in the silence of my heart has made me more compassionate, charitable and humble as I return to serve my brothers and sisters at the altar and most importantly in the “marketplace.”

There’s more. Read it all.