By Njoki Githinji
NAIROBI, AUGUST 21, 2020 (CISA) – Fr Gary Mueller(CM) the Chancellor of Tangaza University College has encouraged faithful of the catholic church to attend Mass despite fears being experienced due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
“The Church must gather together despite fear… The gathering of the church to celebrate the resurrection is an essential part of the solution to fear. Gathering as a church to celebrate the Eucharist on the first day of the week provides a dawning of new hope, a new heart, a new mind. And so it really is for all of us. We are afflicted in many ways, these days many more are afflicted not only with fear of the disease,” he said.
Speaking August 21 at the academic year 2020/2021 Convocation Mass at the Tangaza University College, he noted that virtual Mass cannot replace the gathering together of Christians.
“I’m formed by the presence and prayers of others .This is something that we cannot get on Facebook. Social platforms can never take the place of the steady support of the people of God. The sound of their prayers, their singing, their praise, their struggles that they tell us about, the heroic witness of their lives or their words of encouragement for us,” he said.
He observed that faith is not a private affair and every celebration of the Mass together gives a deeper understanding of the faith and keeps faithful grounded.
“Outside the church the things of faith seem to be outdated and strange and impossible. It may take many years but inside the Church, when we see how things are by the eyes of faith we experience the blessings of the church. We understand…at this moment, in this crisis, we must gather, we must come together, we must be inside the church,” he said.
Since August 18,the Interfaith Council on Covid-19 revised church resumption guidelines to allow people of ages six to 65 to attend Mass compared to the previous range of 13-65.Mass is also allowed last for 90 minutes compared to previously stipulated 60 minutes.
