Items

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  2021-05-17

  Ministry During the Pandemic

  The experience of being a priest during the pandemic
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  2020-09-09

  Taoist Priest Honours China's Coronavirus Dead With Memorial Tablets

  In China, there are only a small number of state-approved religions. Taoism, or Daoism, is one of the approved religions. As COVID-19 began in China, many were quickly infected and died as it was a new virus about which little was known. This article discusses how a Taoist priest in China honors those who died of COVID-19. Taoism, as a religion, has a unique history as originally the religion began as a philosophy. Thus, there are very unique ways of thinking in the heavily philosophical religion. Memorializing the dead is extremely important in Taoism, because as the article relays, true death within the system of Taoism only occurs when one is completely forgotten. In order to make sure people are remembered, the priests create memorial tablets for the dead.
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  2020-06-11

  Chaplain Reassures Long-Term Care Workers in Minnesota

  I found this image attached to an AARP article titled “How to Track COVID-19 Nursing Home Cases and Deaths in Your State.” The chaplain is holding a sign that reads, “You are not alone. You are loved.” The chaplain is expressing his faith through an act of service and love: supporting the frontline workers. It is a generous gesture, and one that I am sure resonates with the senior citizens at the care facility as well as their caretakers.
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  2020-05-15

  We Will Find a Way

  This picture demonstrates the enormity of the Covid-19 situation that we are in as a country through the measures put in place to protect the priest and the baby being baptized. It is important that while we have to obey certain sanctions put in place, we still find, as a religious community, ways to practice our beliefs within the restrictions.
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  2020-04

  "Well it stops me from being able to go to church and pray to my god."

  "Well it stops me from being able to go to church and pray to my god." "No, it strengthened my beliefs." "We we gather uh the priest does like a Zoom meeting for us so that we can still get together spiritually and pray to our God." "Well since we're not doing community service and feeding the homeless in our community..."
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  2020-04-28

  Priest giving blessings at Saint Juan Diego and Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Chandler, AZ on Easter Sunday and Divine Mercy Sunday.

  During Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday the priest at Saint Juan Diego and Saint Mary's went on to give blessings during these joyous days by having families or just people drive up in their cars like a drive-thru and the priest would extend their hand to give them the blessings.
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  2020-04-12

  Priest's Social-Distanced Blessing

  A priest at my parents' local church in Chesterfield, MO waves at our car after an Easter Sunday drive-thru blessing. This will stand in my memory as one of the strangest religious experiences I've ever had, as well as a highlight of my quarantine. The photo makes me think about priests and other similar people who lead communities face-to-face and the distance they must be feeling, as well as the experience of the churchgoer.