The more things change the more they seem to stay the same. When COVID-19 first began I thought this was a couple week thing. OK. After those weeks, a couple of months. OK. Now, the reality that none of us actually knows how long this is going to last nor what the long range effects will be upon our society. We need to draw strength from the places we can find strength. I think back to the early disciples and the early folks who joined the disciples in this new vision of God and God’s relationship with people. I am sure that on Pentecost no one knew that in a few years they would be persecuted by the Romans. No one knew their own families would disown them and ostracize them from their main circle of supporters. Yet, in the midst of all those difficulties, more and more folks turned towards Jesus and the Good News he proclaimed. So what is the good news you have learned in the past few months? Have you learned more about the people in your “bubble?” Have you learned more about yourself? And the hardest question probably to answer, have you learned more about your faith in Jesus Christ and the God who created you? The “church” is not the building. It is the people who make up the community. As this virus drags on we are going to have to find new ways to work with and for others while also learning to ask others for prayer and help. That is one of the core values of our Commitment to Parish Life. It is less about being in the building than it is about ministering and caring for one another. In the earliest church the care Christians showed for one another was one of the most visible signs that they were different than the rest of the community. That opportunity is upon us again. May we use it wisely. Fr. Mike