At the beginning of the pandemic, as I said before… we were shut down for about a month. And I was so upset, I didn’t know what we were going to do and I was so worried that I was going to lose my job and lose the students & teens in our programs. And so during Lent, I ran to Our Lady. I flew under Her mantle and asked Her for all the love & consolation She could provide from Her and Her Son. I asked Her for wisdom & strength, and for a deeper understanding of what I should do for the students & teens… And really during this time, especially during Holy Week.. it just made sense. Provide the students & teens with a home. The same thing I have always tried to do, but perhaps never fully understand the significance until now. But how does one provide a “home” when you cant be in person? And for those that know me, they know I am an extremely old man when it comes to technology and doing things online. But Our Lady…in Her infinite goodness (and really like any good mother) banged me on the head and said. “Hush my child, and LEARN!” So I turned to ZOOM, to doing Bible Studies online. To moving our classes and youth ministry programs to online modules and began to provide a home again for our students and teens. An online home. A place where for 2hrs (or however long our classes/programs were) they didnt have to be anyone but themselves and be filled with the joy, peace, and love of Christ. They could lay down and listen to our talks & reflections, and then they could interact with others/ask questions in break out rooms & games. And eventually, my pastor came around to allowing us to come back in person and the first event we had was mass for our teens! From there came mass & adoration 2x a month, and a summer retreat! All in person, and all through the thanksgiving and glory of God! And im proud to say we are still in person and have been doing programming all year! There are many lessons to have been learned here, and there are many points with reflection… The greatest ones I can say would be the following.. -Nothing is impossible for God -Fly under the protection of Our Mother, and She will help you and bring your petitions to Christ -Home…it can look different in many ways, but the greatest homes, are the places we feel the joy, peace, and love of Christ..and sometimes we need to change our furniture around to make it that
