University of St. Thomas Magazine COVID-19 Special Edition

Photo by M ARK BROWN

Father Lawrence Blake, chaplain and director of Campus Ministry, conducts an online virtual Mass from Florance Chapel in the basement of the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas. Campus Ministry began streaming daily and Sunday Masses live on Facebook to comply with a directive from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis about social distancing.

As we work our way through this current health crisis, we are receiving good advice and encouragement about keeping ourselves healthy. Doing that and keeping a positive attitude will certainly help us get through this. But even if we do all of that, there is still a sense of loss that we cannot escape. So much in our world and our lives has changed. And we aren’t certain how long this will last. There is a real loss of the physical presence of our community. How do we cope with this? Zoom and Skype certainly give us virtual options with which to connect. But, just as

important as the attention we pay to our physical health, we need to be solicitous for our spiritual health, as well. Making time every day to center ourselves, to pray, to invite God into our lives can give us the strength that we need to keep a perspective as we try to make sense of all of this. We want you to know that you are not alone. Please know that our prayers are with you each and every day. We look forward to the time when we are able to be a “physical” community once again. Peace to you.

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