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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) — The university students who belong to the Knights of Columbus council at the intercollegiate University Catholic ministry in the Diocese of Nashville decided that if their fellow students couldn’t come to their Lenten fish fry, they would bring the fish fry to them.

Back 1964 when the Second Vatican Council promulgated Lumen Gentium and described the family as a domestic church, no one envisioned the COVID-19 crisis and just how crucial the nurturing of faith in the home would be.

Just because Masses have been suspended throughout the Diocese of Phoenix due to the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t mean the faithful are being left without ways to continue to grow spiritually this Lent.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — On the Friday before Holy Week, Pope Francis asked people to keep a long tradition of Catholic piety by focusing on “the suffering and sorrows of Our Lady.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With a small procession down the vast and empty central nave of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis began the first of a series of Holy Week liturgies celebrated without the presence of the faithful from the general public.

MEXICO CITY (CNS) — The Latin American bishops’ council announced plans to perform an act of consecration of Latin America and the Caribbean to Our Lady of Guadalupe on Easter, “asking her for health and an end to the pandemic.”

With the suspension of public Masses throughout the Diocese of Phoenix, the Church has more “adoring” fans now than ever. With faithful unable to receive Holy Communion, one pastor brought Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to their homes.

Masses suspended. Weddings and Baptisms postponed or severely limited in size. Churches closed. And it’s all taking place during the holy season of Lent. As the COVID-19 crisis continues to grip the nation, how is a Catholic in the Diocese of Phoenix to receive absolution through the sacrament of Confession?

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While countries have enforced social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Pope Francis warned of serious consequences if the same measures aren’t applied to overcrowded prisons.

Lent is always a desert journey that we make with Jesus, Who fasted and was tested in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. The prophet Hosea says the Lord leads His people into the desert to speak to their hearts. This Lent, it seems that the entire world has been led into a desert.