As we enter this holiday weekend, let us be thankful for the many blessings that we have. We certainly have our challenges. In many parts of the country, particularly in the western and the southern parts of the United States. In a recent letter to her constituents Delegate Bonnie Cullison of District 19 remarked that the scientists seem to agree that our risk of becoming ill through the COVID-19 virus will not really be minimal until 70% of the population is immune, primarily through a vaccine. While there is progress on a vaccine, with the needed clinical trials, it is still likely nine to twelve months away. In the meantime we need to take the necessary precautions to keep ourselves and our families safe—notably through washing our hands for at least twenty seconds, wearing masks, and maintaining social distance of at least six feet when we venture out in public.

Today I want to continue our reflection based on the 2018 Pastoral Letter issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love. To help us with this, I am going to use one of the handouts prepared by the USCCB as an aid to our discussion: “The Call to Address Racism in Our Hearts and Communities, which was copyrighted by the USCCB in 2018.

One of the spiritual practices that we have adopted since we have had to shelter in place during the coronavirus pandemic is to pray the Rosary on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays through Zoom conferencing. We have anticipated the recommendation of the Holy Father to pray the Rosary. His words are a great encouragement for us to continue our practice--which we intend to do until we are able to open the church again.

Christ is risen, alleluia! He is risen indeed, alleluia! Even though the Coronavirus pandemic continues, I have decided not to write about it today or in the next several columns. I have chanced upon a presentation of the history of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which celebrated its one hundredth anniversary in 1917. There are some little known facts about American Catholic history in its founding. It is worth telling some of those stories of that history in this column. It will be a good diversion for all of us.

Today is the Second Sunday of Easter and also Divine Mercy Sunday. The feast of Divine Mercy is based on the devotion to the Divine Mercy that Saint Faustina Kowalska reported as part of her encounter with Jesus. I should mention here that these apparitions would fall under the category of private revelations. The Church does not give any definitive teaching on the authenticity or nature of such apparitions. But the Church does study them carefully and, if the fruits of an event breathe of the providential designs, it approves the consequent devotions. The Bishops of the United States said in regard to certain approved Marian apparitions that these providential happenings serve as a reminder to us of basic Christian themes: prayer, penance, and the necessity of the sacraments. This same would be true in case of these apparitions to Saint Faustina. It would also apply to the case of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque who had a series of apparitions in the seventeenth century that were instrumental in promoting the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Christ is risen, alleluia! He has risen indeed, alleluia! Happy Easter everyone. I am actually writing this column at the beginning of Holy Week. At this time, the coronavirus pandemic has now infected 1.2 million people globally with 330,000 in the U.S., and 69,000 deaths worldwide. I suspect that when you read this, the numbers will be much higher. The Surgeon General, Jerome Adams, said that this pandemic rivals some of the darkest moments in U.S. history, including the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the September 11th terrorist hijackings. Surgeon General Adams went on to say that it was not going to be localized. It will be happening all over the country. He wanted America to understand that.