Easter Vigil Mass online

I received a few requests for a link to watch Mass online from some readers who are homebound.

CatholicTV is showing Easter Vigil Mass online at 8pm this evening from Boston's Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

You can watch it here.

Easter Sunday schedule: Easter Mass from Notre Dame at 10 a.m. and Easter Mass from Rome Pope Benedict XVI at 11:30 a.m.

Emails...homebound Catholics during the holidays

"Where there is part, there is also the whole."

When St. Alice contracted leprosy in her 20's , she was no longer able to receive Communion from the chalice at her convent. She heard these words spoken to her by God, consoling her and reminding her that we are all part of the Communion of Saints (the "living communion that exists between us and our brothers who are in the glory of heaven or who are yet being purified after their death. ("Lumen Gentium." 51).

This time of year I receive quite a few emails from people who no longer can get to Mass or participate in a parish community. They so miss going to church. So I wanted to share these words as a reminder that God knows each of us and our situations and His love embraces us as we are, where we are - always.

Receiving Communion alone from a Eucharistic minister at home does not mean that you are not part of the whole. Just as St. Alice received Communion apart from others, she - and you - and all of us - are part of the Whole - the Body of Christ.

Woman denied right to put in accessible door sues

Josefina, born without legs or arms, uses her teeth to open the door on her condo apartment. Unfortunately, the creative method she's figured out doesn't work to get her back in, leaving her dependent on those who happen to be passing by to get back into her own home.  As a result, Josefina remains stuck at home, noting that it's like being in jail. Her efforts to get permission to put on a door that would allow her egress/inegress have failed and a lawsuit is pending. 

Hard to believe? Not really. People are stuck in their homes and apartments for various reasons, due to delays that come from denials of permission and subsequent lawsuits or the need for a variance to build a ramp on houses.

Need a ramp? In some places, be prepared to hire the following people:  an architect, attorney and engineer to draw up plans for a variance. If you need to get out immediately you can apply for a temporary ramp, but then you must take that ramp down before you build your permanent ramp.  Of course that means paying a contractor twice. 

Our laws which require variances and expensive hoops to jump through need to be changed.  The delays inherent in our system, which include having to sue to get permission for access into and out of an apartment or home you are paying to live in, are not justifiable or reasonable.

Josefina just happens to be in the news. 

Homebound? Can't get to Mass?

This website allows you to watch Mass online. EWTN also provides video resources for Catholics along with its television programming. To watch Mass in Spanish, click here.

If you or a family member are homebound, you can also contact your local parish to find out if they have a ministry to bring the Eucharist to your home.