The domestic church

Remember when — as we watched Mass online or from cars in the church parking lot and as every part of parish life changed overnight — we said we’d never take the Eucharist for granted again?

Three years ago, the pandemic was just beginning. The world was shutting down.

Daily life suddenly centered around home. As each of us grappled with seismic changes in society, an unexpected ripple effect was that the domestic church became the primary expression of faith for most Catholics. No longer could we gather for regular celebrations of the Eucharist in person, but we could join in prayer with the universal Church from our kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms.

Do we remember how we promised we’d never forget?

The third anniversary of the pandemic lockdowns invites us to pray about what this time brought to our lives, families and faith. Since home was where we spent many of 2020’s intense months, praying at home can help us continue to navigate a changed world.

To remember what Catholicism teaches about the domestic church, it helps to return to the Catechism: “In our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the “ecclesia domestica” (CCC 1656).

Long before COVID or quarantine entered our daily discourse experience, we were called to remember that the Church is not limited to the four walls of a holy