AS the world strives to find a sense of normalcy, we can’t help but feel a little anxious when being in a room full of people.
From shaking and holding hands to drinking from the same cup, Covid-19 has really changed the dynamics of Catholicism.
Father Grant Emmanuel, our priest at Our Lady of Vailankaani Catholic Church said, “The experience of lockdown affected our Faith Community to its very core. People who had been coming to Church their whole life, some even during the week, were now unable to attend Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion – which for Catholics is the greatest of all blessings. Weddings and other Church celebrations had to be cancelled or postponed. The experience of fellowship was totally disrupted.”
“On a personal note, the experience of Lockdown and the Church ban, along with the many deaths within our Faith community drained me on every level – Spiritually, Emotionally, Psychologically and Physically. In many ways I felt like a fish out of water. Not being able to visit the sick and attend to the dying and been prevented from supporting grieving families was painful for me. Celebrating Holy Mass without a congregation present was very strange and evoked a fair amount of sadness,” said Father Grant.
I was raised in a strict Catholic home, therefore, I never missed church. It became a ritual to wake up every Sunday morning and attend mass no matter the circumstances. Due to the KZN flooding, it made me more anxious as I thought I would not be able to attend Holy mass, but luckily, masses will continue.
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For me, church will always be a place where complete strangers become family.
Before the pandemic, I was always greeted with open arms, enormous smiles, and an outpouring of excitement and delight. Unfortunately, those warm greeting are no longer given. Social distancing has refrained us from physical contact, those big smiles are concealed behind masks and the joy and happiness of many are turned into sorrow and anguish as many parishioners have lost their loved ones to Covid-19.
Strangely the pandemic made me appreciate my religion more than ever. It made me value the beauty in my religion and the traditions which I took for granted. Never did I think I would be spiritually starved and detached from my religion. I was so accustomed to being taught the word of God and receiving his body and blood every week that I sometimes took it for granted. I only realized the importance of these rituals during the lockdown as there were days where I craved it.
Returning to church gives me hope that the world will soon revert back to normal and covid-19 will be a matter for the history books.
It gives me the chance to pray for the souls that I lost along the way due to Covid-19 and the recent floods as well as the opportunity to rediscover my spirituality, and to rebuild my relationship with God.
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