Technology helps parishioners adjust to church closings

By Tim Puet
Catholic Times Reporter

With churches being closed until at least May 3 because of the coronavirus pandemic, parishes throughout the Diocese of Columbus are using technology to maintain a sense of community. 

Some parishes are streaming Masses online and on Facebook and YouTube. The Zoom video conferencing network also is helping parishioners stay in touch with one another.
Here is how some parishes are adapting:

Reynoldsburg St. Pius X Church is using Zoom for several devotional activities, including the rosary at 6 p.m. Mondays, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, the Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. Fridays and meetings of the parish’s men’s faith-sharing group at 6:30 a.m. Saturdays. Sunday Masses with Father David J. Young, pastor; Father Milton Kiocha, associate pastor; and Deacon Eugene Joseph are celebrated on Saturday nights and posted on the parish website.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the number of people viewing the devotions,” parishioner John Swisher said. “It’s not just the core group, but we have some new people. I think it’s because everyone has more time to do some of the things they’ve thought about in the past but maybe felt they were too busy to get involved with.”

Swisher also is director of Sacred Heart Columbus, which promotes enthronement of homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Until recently, enthronements involved a ceremony requiring a visit by a member of the Sacred Heart lay apostolate, but the organization recently developed self-enthronement packets eliminating that requirement.

“We did this because we couldn’t keep up with the demand from people wanting their homes enthroned, and we gave out more than 250 (packets) at the diocesan Catholic men’s and women’s conferences earlier this year,” he said. “Now it seems like divine providence that we began offering the packets since people can’t leave their homes because of the virus. We’ve had about 40 requests for kits since the state of Ohio began requiring people to stay home.”

Swisher said the packets may be obtained through the websites www.sacredheartcongresscolumbus.org or www.welcomehisheart.com or by contacting him at swisher721@gmail.com.

Deacon Dave Bezusko at Marysville Our Lady of Lourdes Church said 25 to 30 families are getting together via the parish Facebook group at 7 nightly to pray the rosary.

“Several families are taking turns acting as host for the prayers, with a different family playing that role each night,” he said. “Because we’re doing it through video since people are being required to stay home, the hosts don’t have to prepare their home for guests. All they have to do is have a smartphone with a camera, set it on a tripod and go live at 7 o’clock.
We’ve found it to be a great way to stay connected and to engage one another in community prayer.

“We’re also starting to do more with Zoom. We used it for a That Man Is You! session on March 28, and I conducted an RCIA class through Zoom. The parish isn’t set up to stream Masses, but Father (Kevin) Kavanagh (the parish’s pastor) is presenting a reflection on each Sunday’s Gospel on the parish website. Like most everyone, we’re just trying to adjust to the situation and find ways our faith can continue to grow in the midst of it.”

The Perry County Consortium of Parishes is not set up for videostreaming at its churches in New Lexington, Corning, Crooksville and Junction City, but it is offering video reflections every Sunday and periodically during the week with Father Michael Hartge, pastor, and Father Christopher Yakkel, parochial vicar, on its new “Perry County Consortium” Facebook page.

“The Sunday videos focus on the readings for the day, while the others are more informal, looking at some of the humorous or interesting things that have happened to us,” Father Hartge said. “We had planned all along to start the page on the Solemnity of St. Joseph, March 19, and it turned out to be just the kind of thing needed to help parishioners stay close.”

Columbus Our Lady of Victory Church doesn’t have streaming Masses or an official parish outreach, but Deacon Rob Joseph is staying in touch with parishioners in several ways, with the approval of Father William A. Metzger, pastor. Deacon Joseph contacts two or three elderly parishioners daily and uses Zoom to pray the rosary with parishioners and members of his family in Florida. He also presented the Stations of the Cross on Friday, April 3 as an official parish function and plans to do so again on Good Friday, April 10.

In addition, he has begun sending periodic email reflections, not in the name of the parish or as a deacon, but as a personal response to the changes resulting from the coronavirus. His first reflection was on the subject of anxiety. “The situation we are going through shakes us all at the core,” he said. “At times like this, we run the risk of despair. I’ve been down that path.”

As an antidote to anxiety, he recommends Philippians 4:6-7, which says, “Do not be anxious in anything, but in every situation … present your prayer to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Deacon Joseph’s wife, Krista, is in charge of the parish’s religious education program, which has 268 children in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

“We switched very quickly to an online format,” she said. “We’re fortunate because our textbook publisher gave us a free code to annex everything we needed online. We’re getting ready for Confirmation, and the candidates are doing all their interviews online.

“This situation gives us a great opportunity to involve parents and make this a real catechesis at home, since parents are the first teachers of their children.” 

Chillicothe St. Peter, Waverly St. Mary and Washington Court House St. Colman of Cloyne churches are part of a consortium. St. Peter Church is closed, but Father William Hahn, its pastor, celebrates Masses for the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary daily. Those Masses are streamed on the parish Facebook page at 9:30 a.m. Sundays and 8:30 a.m. on major feast days, such as the Solemnity of St. Joseph on March 19, the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25, and the days of the Octave of Easter. 

Father Timothy Lynch, parochial vicar for the consortium, lives in the St. Colman rectory and is celebrating a streamed Mass on that parish’s website at 10 a.m. Sundays. Also being streamed on the St. Peter Facebook page are Vespers on some Saturdays from the convent and a five-part series with Father Hahn and Chris Hiles, parish evangelization coordinator, titled Living the Faith in the Absence of the Sacraments. It’s being shown live from 11 to 11:30 a.m. and first aired live on Thursday, April 2. Subsequent episodes were shown on Monday, April 6 and Wednesday, April 8, with two more scheduled on Monday, April 13 and Wednesday, April 15.

“We live in unprecedented times, where perfectly health clergy are not allowed to celebrate the sacraments publicly,” Father Hahn said on the first program. “Even in times of persecution, priests would celebrate Mass in secret.

“This may be unprecedented for us, but there are Catholic communities thriving in many nations without access to the sacraments or a priest for months at a time. We also can thrive during this time, and we will talk about some examples of how to do this.