St. Peter Claver Catholic Church
With the suspension of public liturgies and gatherings for Mass in the spring of 2020 due to the Covid 19 threat, St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Lexington, KY, met the challenge of celebrating Holy Week and Easter as a united faith community, even while they could not be physically together. St. Peter Claver's staff gathered photos of the parish families and arranged them in the worship space, so pastor Fr. Norman Fischer could see their smiling faces. On Palm Sunday, parishioners processed in their cars to receive blessed palms and then participated in Mass from the shelter of their homes via Facebook live streaming. Parishioners also took part in the sacred Triduum via live streaming and rejoiced together, although still physically apart, on Easter Sunday. The Congolese community likewise participated via livestream in the Swahili Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, with Fr. Anthony Mutu as celebrant and a few members of the Congolese community on hand to assist in the liturgy. Then Fr. Norman shared on social media this Divine Mercy encounter: "An angel gave me gift cards to give away - this blessed encounter happened as I called over a man walking across the street! He revealed he was homeless and I asked if he "would like a blessing"? Yes he got blessed with the gracious gift card (which he needed from an angel family) and then he allowed me to bless him spiritually and I experienced in return Jesus' kindness and mercy through him. You see God can be experienced in every way... everyday!!!"
