This year we have the chance to spend our time quietly searching our hearts for the Word God wishes to speak to us during this period of peace and silence that has been imposed on us.

Blessed Stanley Rother and Blessed Michael McGivney are exemplars of priestly courage, leadership and pastoral charity. Both are a source of encouragement, not only for seminarians but also for those of us already ordained.

We must not allow ourselves to be deluded into thinking that death is the way to deal with social challenges we face.

Our votes will have real-life consequences for many people. Thus, we should do our best to discern those consequences.

We are rooting for the medical professionals to come up with a vaccine and effective treatment, but we should also be begging the Lord to remove this scourge from us.

The words “Black Lives Matter” ought to remind us that every Black person is made in God’s image and is endowed with inviolable dignity, from the moment of conception until natural death.

It is a good time for us to remember the blessing we have here in Baltimore by turning to Servant of God, Mother Mary Lange, as never before.

For a parish church to be a place of prayer, there have to be times of silence. For a domestic church to be a place of prayer and formation, there also needs to be periods of silence.

May we indeed persevere, in this and in every time of trial, so that one day we may reign with Christ in the presence of Mary Our Queen.

So often in Scripture Jesus says to his followers and to us, “Be not afraid.” He’s not asking us to ignore our problems or neglect our loved ones or deny our feelings. He is inviting us to rise above our feelings of fear, to encounter the greatness and glory of God, and in a spirit of humility and contrition to open our hearts to him, perhaps as never before.