Dear Parishioners,

Hard to believe that we are just at the beginning of the lock-in. We need to be in one-day-at-a-time mode. Here is an article with some at home retreats available for Holy Week: https://aleteia.org/2020/04/02/4-online-retreats-offered-during-holy-week/

Here is an article about our unprecedented times (actually, they’re not really unprecedented) and some insights from St. Augustine about how difficult times help us to see our character flaws: https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/04/02/unprecedented-times/

The Coronavirus cases in Maryland are still rising. The number of confirmed cases went up to 2,331. There are now a total of 18,890 negative tests. I have done a web search for Maryland Hospitals. I do not see any stories of how they are doing. I found one source that estimated that about 12% of those who test positive will need to be hospitalized. That means in Maryland there are perhaps 250 people being hospitalized. This seems to be very manageable. If we all follow the social distancing guidelines we can keep our hospitals and health care workers from being overloaded. We can also keep praying, since, apparently, the worst of the wave will come in these two weeks leading up to Easter.

Stay close to the Lord, He is with all of us. The graces of all the Masses and Sacraments we have received over the years give us a deep well of help from the Lord.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Pray for us!