Unprecedented times.
Flatten the curve.
When encouraged to shut down and stay home to quell the spread of COVID-19, many in the Greater Cumberland County region didn’t abandon their drive to help others or achieve new goals. I ve selected about two dozen stories I wrote during 2020 that highlight how small acts of kindness made a big difference.
The collection includes a businessman who settled outstanding school lunch debts, a deaf dog encouraging acceptance, and the Class of 2020 who joyfully embraced their non-traditional graduation celebrations.
May their compassion, resilience, and perseverance serve as inspiration to us all in the new year.
Patricia Burkhardt rehearses prior to Mass at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Washington July 11. (CNS/Tyler Orsburn)
On Friday, millions of C & E Catholics those who only get to Mass on Christmas and Easter will become E Catholics only. Due to COVID-19, millions of people are opting not to go to church or will not be able to attend because of public health restrictions on the number of people who can be permitted into a church building for worship.
This inability to go to Mass is horrible and unavoidable. Last spring, when the whole country shut down, we all learned how to attend Mass online. And it is awful. Nonetheless, the closure of the churches concretized a proper grasp of Catholic teaching about the sanctity of human life. It was revolting to listen to conservative Catholics denounce the forced closings when only a couple of years earlier, so many of them had exhibited indifference to the plight of Catholics in the Amazon who were forced to go witho