September 15, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — “In a letter entitled ‘Let us return to the Eucharist with joy!,’ addressed to the presidents of bishops’ conferences around the world, the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Robert Sarah, spoke of the need to return to normalcy and asserted that virtual Masses are no substitute for being physically present at the liturgy.”
“As soon as is possible,” LifeSiteNews recounts Cardinal Sarah writing in his letter, “we must return to the Eucharist with a purified heart, with a renewed amazement, with an increased desire to meet the Lord, to be with Him, to receive Him and to bring Him to our brothers and sisters with the witness of a life full of faith, love, and hope.”
“Broadcasts alone risk distancing us from a personal and intimate encounter with the incarnate God who gave Himself 
to us not in a virtual way, but really, saying: ‘He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him’ (Jn 6:56),” said Sarah, declaring, “This physical contact with the Lord is vital, indispensable, irreplaceable.” (Red letter emphasis on Cardinal Sarah’s words is added below.)
“The faithful should be recognized as having the right to receive the Body of Christ and to worship the Lord present in the Eucharist in the manner provided for, without limitations that go even beyond what is provided for by the norms of hygiene issued by public authorities or Bishops,” said Sarah.
“In the Eucharistic celebration the faithful adore the Risen Jesus present; and we see with what ease the sense of adoration, the prayer of adoration, is lost,” noted Sarah to the bishops. “In their catechesis we ask Pastors to insist on the necessity of adoration.”
Cardinal Sarah lists 6 reasons why we cannot and certainly no longer should do without what has been lost. And we might at least ask ourselves if that list is complete, and might even venture to say that it is not by any means a complete list. The point at which nurturing hunger for the Eucharist hangs by the thread of desire to view video may have long since passed into one more stage setting, where the reality of Presence becomes more and more difficult to discern. It is worth more deeply understanding why some priests deliberately delayed (and still are delaying) a complete return to the fullness of pre-pandemic liturgies and why some Catholics can more and more easily talk themselves into not being ‘ready’ to return. Both priests and people have suffered from the continued distancing into the masked image of unreality, doing far more persistent damage to their communities than was done by the COVID-19.
After presenting Cardinal Sarah’s 6 points, LifeSiteNews returns to the Cardinal’s words: “… Let us … continue to entrust ourselves confidently to God’s mercy, to invoke the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary… to persevere in prayer for those who have left this life, and … renew our intention to be witnesses of the Risen One and heralds of a sure hope, which transcends the limits of this world.”
Cardinal Sarah’s letter was written on August 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; approved by Pope Francis on September 3; and published in Italian on September 12, 2020. The English translation was provided by the Catholic News Agency (CNA), which is carrying its full translation.
Related story re Abp. Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/another-us-bishop-reinstates-sunday-obligation-its-grave-sin-to-miss-mass?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=6e46e457b8-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S._COPY_845&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-6e46e457b8-401405353