As the old saying goes, I wished I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase “it’s the new normal” these past few months.  It even begs the question, what is “normal?”  The Webster’s II New College Dictionary defines it as adhering to a typical or standard pattern, level or type.  I am not so sure that this has ever been the case since the beginning of creation.

Adam and Eve could have had a very wonderful normal life living in the paradise of the Garden of Eden (which I am sure that I could have enjoyed immensely) but had to go and change everything up by eating the fruit from the forbidden tree.  Even then, life was going along smoothly with the birth of their two sons.  That is until the one son decided to end the others life.  On and on, time after time throughout the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) we see an attempt at normal only to have it interrupted by some major event – or chain of events – such as the Great Flood, Egyptian Captivity, from Judges to Kings, from living in the promise of the covenant to breaking the covenant, from faithful belief in Yahweh to worshiping idols.

The same pattern appears as we journey through the New Testament.  God sent his Son incarnated into the world to save us, the world tried to kill him as an infant.  Jesus healed all who came to him, but he was rejected by Jewish leaders and subsequently the people, being put to death on the cross.  The pattern continued with the apostles as they began their mission of proclaiming the good news to all (with all but John being martyred). In all of these situations whatever I thought was normal wasn’t, something or someone would always come along to disrupt or change the status quo.  If there is anything that actually could be considered normal it is that change will always happen as life continues on, there will always be a New Normal.

It is in that light that I have been given to pause and reflect on the world around me – us. I never thought that I would live to see the day when I was told to stay home from attending Mass, especially on Sunday.  I realized how much I had taken for granted my ability to go to Mass on any given day and to receive the Eucharist, to be able to meet and spend time with fellow parishioners and friends.  Normal for the past few months has been to observe Mass being celebrated by streaming online.  We now order our groceries online and then go and pick them up at a designated spot.  We are told to stop socializing and stay home.  If we have a need to go out into the public, we are to wear a mask.  The first time my wife (Marge) and I went out, we were a little bit unsettled.  Marge commented that she felt like we were breaking some law and that we would be stopped by a police officer, thinking we were some kind of bank robbers. Normal?  New Normal?

It is easy to focus on all of the negatives during this time of “distancing stay at home” orders.  I – we – are not happy with being quarantined off from society, from family and friends.  The first Sunday that we were not able to attend Mass and receive the Eucharist was difficult, even though there were many Sundays before that when I thought how great it would be to just not have to get up and go to Mass today.  Yes, I took it for granted.  Somehow watching it on the computer or tv screen didn’t quite measure up, it was like watching a tv show where I am only a spectator and not a participator.  I couldn’t believe that this was going to be the “new normal.”

Then I heard Cardinal Dolan as he was being interviewed on the Today show Holy Thursday morning.  He said that these were difficult times, especially since it was Holy Week where we as Church were about to enter the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  The comment that caught my attention was about how even though we couldn’t physically attend the liturgies and receive the Eucharist, we could be Eucharist for one another.  He reminded me that the Eucharist isn’t just about receiving Jesus but also about giving and being Jesus for one another.

I left that interview with the understanding that I was going to stop looking at all the negatives of this time in my life and to start focusing on the positives.  Having heard Cardinal Dolan’s comments, I became much more aware of the world around me.  My thoughts went to more of giving and less on receiving.  I became aware of the fact that I was actually paying more attention to the Mass as we (Marge and I) watched it on the computer, not that I advocate this moving forward.  As we talked among ourselves and then friends, we heard similar revelations.  There seemed to be less distractions, It was easier to see the altar up close and the actions of the priest, versus sitting half way or all the way back in the Church, trying to see over someone taller sitting in front of you.  I became very aware of the absence of the community and how important that is to liturgical celebrations.  I sensed how alone and isolated the priest and or Deacon was as they celebrated Mass without much feedback, perhaps only a voice or two.  I started to feel a strong desire for the Eucharist again, a force pulling me toward a deeper union with Jesus and the community, the Body of Christ.

It was also during Holy Week that I started looking at what I was experiencing during this time of distancing and “stay at home” orders. I became more aware of what the apostles and all the disciples of Jesus might have been experiencing; as they began the Passover meal (Last Supper/Lord’s Supper LK 22:14-20), when he was arrested, flogged, stripped of His clothing, forced to carry the cross upon which he would be nailed to.  I reflected on whether the apostles were aware of the change that was about to happen in their lives at the moment Jesus began the Passover with the words “I have long awaited to celebrate this Passover meal with you.”  Surely it alerted them that something different was about to happen since Jesus chose to change up the script for Passover.  If not with the opening statement, then for sure when Jesus took the bread and “giving thanks, blessed, broke and shared it with the apostles saying “this is my body, which will be given for you.” (v 19)  If not then, it had to be when He took the cup and again “giving thanks, saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.” (v 20)

Well, not so much, they might have looked at each other thinking “what in the world is he doing, this isn’t how Passover goes.” What was there normal?  What was going to be their new normal?  We know from reading the story of the two disciples who were on their way out of town that they were filled with despair. (LK 24:13-35)  That what they hoped was going to happen, for the Messiah (the anointed one) to conquer the Romans and free from Roman oppression, was lost with the death of Jesus on the cross.  We know that the apostles and the other disciples were in hiding for fear of their own lives, isolated from the world around them, even from their own families.  Their normal would never be same again.  No, but it would become so much more than they could have ever imagined.  They, and all of us today as well, were freed from something much more oppressing than Roman rule, it was freedom from the slavery to sin.  All nations and peoples were given the choice to live in the oppression of the kingdom of the world or the freedom of eternity in the Kingdom of God.

So what is my (our) normal moving forward?  I know that my normal will be more aware of the fact that change is constant and inevitable.  This time of distancing and isolation is an opportunity for me to become more aware of those moments of conversion.  It is a time to repent from those things in my life that are not “Eucharist” giving to others.  I am becoming more aware of the importance of sharing with the ecclesia (the gathering of the community) the Mass and the Eucharist in my life.  I now realize that normal is whatever path that God is calling me to walk down.