Maryland, USA: A Catholic priest in Maryland is going above and beyond to make sure his parishioners have access to most sacraments amid the coronavirus.
The Governor of Maryland put into place a list of rules businesses and Maryland citizens must abide by to stop the spread of coronavirus and to “flatten the curve” of the epidemic. Staying within the guidelines, Father Scott of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church of Bowie, Maryland, is offering a modified version of both confession and the holy sacrifice of the daily and weekend masses open to parishioners who so wish to avail themselves of the sacraments.
In the photo we can see Father Scott doing his best to stay away from the driver, as to not contract any virus they might have, but also doing his best to offer the sacrament of penance.
According to another Facebook post, with the help of a semanarian, Father Scott is instructed to wear a blindfold if the confessor wishes to remain anonymous.
The Sacrament of Penance is one of seven sacraments in the Catholic Church where men and women can confess sins and have them forgiven by God through the absolution of a priest.
Father Scott says he’ll be in the parking lot when there normally would be mass during certain times of the day if any parishioner wants to swing by and just chat. If anyone or a family wanted to just pray a bit with Father Scott, that’d be totally fine.
The coronavirus hit in the middle of the Lenten season, a period of forty days whereas Catholics are called to “rend their hearts and not their garments” before Christ.
source:tiremeetsroad.com