My family, as a unit, is not deeply connected to religious faith and the beliefs of the catholic church. We affiliate with the catholic church and follow the basic yearly calendar of holidays, sacred days, and other forms of celebration or worship that coincide with the catholic church. Although we affiliate, we do not actively participate in our religious community. We don’t go to church weekly or even really on the holidays. We don’t pray every time we eat or expect each other to pray those prayers learned from the church. I pray my own individual prayers independently from whatever my immediate relatives do with their forms of worship. Since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, my family was not super impacted as we weren’t attending mass face-to-face in the church. We used to be more involved, but now our involvement has not changed since the cancellation of gatherigs due to COVID-19. One thing we did do for the first time, though, was follow along with mass on Easter Sunday. We normally do not attend mass on Easter Sunday as it is a huge holiday and many families go to mass. The church is usually packed and we often end up having to stand in the back. Ever since I can remember, we haven’t gone to church on Easter Sunday or followed along with a mass. This year, though, the vatican did a virtual mass with English translation. My family seemed to become more interested in the idea of virtual mass and actually practicing and investing in our faith due to the greater accessibility of the mass ceremony because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We sat together in front of the television and actually followed along with the entire Easter mass that was conducted at the vatican church in Italy. While we had to follow the English translation, our family was usually not invested on Easter in religious practices. Because of COVID-19 and mass being online, my family practiced some religious activities unlike they would if Easter mass was only conducted in person. The increase in accessibility to and flexibility of practicing religion virtually and in one’s own home may provide other families with the same experience my family had. We have become more invested in religious practices and attending mass since it has become a virtual event rather than taking the time to get ready, drive to the church, take part in mass, and drive back home. COVID-19 may be causing less gatherings, but it has provided more resources virtually for people to practice their faith and be active in religious groups without actually being present in the church and community.
