This Bowie, Maryland priest is going above and beyond, making sure his parishioners have access to most sacraments amid the coronavirus.
The Governor of Maryland put into place a list of rules businesses and Maryland citizens must abide by to stop the spread of coronavirus and to “flatten the curve.” Staying within the guidelines, Father Scott of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church of Bowie, Maryland, is offering a modified version of both confession and the holy sacrifice of the daily and weekend masses open to parishioners who so wish to avail themselves of the sacraments.
Check out a photo of Father Scott offering confession to a driver in this Honda Civic that’s going viral below.
Earlier today, St. Edward the Confessor posted this up on Facebook.
In the photo we can see Father Scott doing his best to stay away from the driver, as to not contract any virus they might have, but also doing his best to offer the sacrament of penance.
According to another Facebook post, with the help of a semanarian, Father Scott is instructed to wear a blindfold if the confessor wishes to remain anonymous.
If you didn’t already know, the Sacrament of Penance is one of seven sacraments in the Catholic Church where men and women can confess sins and have them forgiven by God through the absolution of a priest.
St. Edward the Confessor is also having a modified version of what would be a mass celebration. Father Scott says he’ll be in the parking lot when there normally would be mass during certain times of the day if any parishioner wants to swing by and just chat. I imagine if anyone or a family wanted to just pray a bit with Father Scott, that’d be totally fine.
The main job of a priest is looking after the holiness of his parishioners. The coronavirus hit in the middle of the Lenten season, a period of forty days whereas Catholics are called to “rend their hearts and not their garments” before Christ.
It’s good to see that this priest is doing his darndest, making sure his parishioners have tools and services for their Lenten journey, even though the State of Maryland says typical mass gathering is probably off the table.
My hat off to you, Father Scott. Thank you for being a model priest for the Catholic community.
