DAVID MARCUS: 5 years after a dark COVID Easter, faith is flourishing

Five years ago, our country’s Christians experienced an Easter similar nary earlier it, and hopefully similar nary we volition ever spot again. It was a clip of isolation, loneliness and anxiety, and yet today, we are learning that retired of this darkness, the occurrence of our religion has lone grown brighter.

Prior to the COVID pandemic, fewer Americans could person adjacent imagined immoderate day, fto unsocial an Easter Sunday, upon which we could not spell to church. This is, aft all, a federation created by radical who were seeking the state to worship nevertheless they pleased.

All passim Lent successful 2020, which eerily tracked with the emergence of the Chinese virus, I callback proceeding the Brooklyn religion bells peeling, piercing the unusual soundlessness of the bare municipality landscape.

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But the religion doors were locked choky connected epidemiologists' orders.

The dependable of the bells mingled consolation with mockery, a harsh reminder of the spiritual prohibition, but besides ringing with the committedness and the information that this excessively would pass. 

At the time, separated from my family, I wrote successful a file for the New York Post that "we person fixed up each different for Lent. But arsenic we awake connected Sunday to the surreal world of existent circumstance, determination is anticipation we volition spot each different again."

As we observe the Lord’s resurrection this year, not lone person the COVID lockdowns passed, not lone are our churches open, but they are packed to the brim with flocks of the faithful, caller and old, successful what immoderate person called different American spiritual revival.

At church, things tin beryllium beauteous and existent and celebrated, dissimilar the snark-filled satellite of our screens that thrives connected cruel jokes.

This week, that aforesaid New York Post ran an nonfiction with the glorious headline, "Young radical are converting to Catholicism en masse — driven by pandemic, internet, ‘lax’ alternatives."

The National Catholic Register reports that Catholic parishes crossed the federation are experiencing 30-70% maturation successful attendance, and it's not conscionable Catholics. Ask immoderate practicing Christian successful our country, and I conscionable a batch connected the road, and astir volition archer you they spot and consciousness the maturation successful the faith.

People be Sunday wide astatine Saint Patricks Catholic Cathedral, successful New York city, connected October 16, 2022.  ((Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images))

Perhaps we should not beryllium amazed that the bitter cupful of COVID led to greater spiritual observance by Christians. After each the Holy Spirit, speaking done the prophets, has told for thousands of years of periods of nonaccomplishment and suffering that extremity successful the fullness of God’s light.

From the banishment from Eden, to the Flood, to the Exodus, and yet Christ’s 40 days of starvation and temptation successful the desert, again and again, it is suffering that brings God’s radical closest to Him.

During COVID, our godforsaken was isolation, and particularly for young people, it lone exacerbated what was already a inclination of smartphones replacing playgrounds, of virtual beingness online dilatory supplanting reality.

At church, everything is precise real, overmuch arsenic it has been for much than a 1000 years. At church, we are ne'er alone. At church, things tin beryllium beauteous and existent and celebrated, dissimilar the snark-filled satellite of our screens that thrives connected cruel jokes.

Human beings request a intent and meaning beyond being a cog successful the brave caller satellite of tech. We request transportation to our God and to each other.

And truthful we should deliberation backmost to our cold, acheronian COVID Easter this year, arsenic outpouring brightens the clouds and warms the writer crossed this nation, and retrieve that erstwhile again, similar always, God has delivered america from suffering.

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This year, determination volition beryllium household and friends, handshakes and hugs. There volition beryllium nary masks, and beingness volition beryllium well-lived, similar successful the bully aged days, similar successful the aged normal.

Maybe much than thing else, we each learned the hard mode not to instrumentality the signifier of our religion for granted. We ne'er thought it could beryllium taken from us, and yet it was, though thankfully lone briefly.

The different night, I had to prime up my lad from his CCD people astatine church. It was aft 9 p.m. and the people was moving late. I was bushed and annoyed, but past I saw him and his buddies walking out, laughing, having conscionable spent an hr talking astir God. 

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A feeling of gratitude washed implicit me. I didn’t person to beryllium there, I got to beryllium there. This wasn’t a burden, it was a blessing. 

Is America poised for a caller spiritual revival retired of the ashes of COVID? It whitethorn beryllium excessively soon to say, but successful the end, it is up to us, and truthful far, the signs are looking beauteous good.

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