COVID and Faith Inertia

I remember from physics class the definition of the word “inertia”: “A body at motion tends to stay in motion, and a body at rest tends to stay at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force.”

As we reach the 2-year anniversary of the start of the COVID era, many of us have experienced what I call “faith inertia.” In other words, those church-related routines we had before the pandemic — Sunday Mass every week, daily Mass once in a while, Bible studies, prayer groups, singing in the choir, regular Confession, etc. — just stopped in their tracks. Our faith activities had momentum and inertia. We were in a groove. We were on a roll. And then those activities were acted upon by an outside force, namely COVID. 

Now the second part of the inertia definition has occurred. We’ve lost momentum; we’ve gotten out of our good habits; we no longer are in motion. And we can’t seem to get things back in gear again.

There are some people who have not been inside a church since March of 2020. (Of course, there are people who have not been inside a church since March of 1980, but that’s a topic for another day.) When the bishops announced two years ago that it was OK for everyone to stay home from Mass until further notice (the first time that happened, I’ve been told, in the history of our 2,000 year old Church!), we got used to watching Mass on TV or the internet — when it was convenient. 

Now, two full years later, things have transpired in ways that no one could’ve predicted. Since March of 2020, we have experienced a lot of fear and death; ventilators and overflowing hospitals; quarantines; mask mandates; record-settingly quick vaccine rollouts; burgeoning optimism in the Spring of 2021; the Delta variant; surging and waning positive test rates; the realization that the vaccine did not prevent infection but instead reduced the symptoms; the highly contagious Omicron variant; vaccine mandates; frustration and anger in the Fall of 2021; disinformation coming from all sides; and month after month of pandemic burnout. Who knows what surprises are around the corner? Yes, it’s been a wild and unpredictable ride. 

OK, let’s get back to the original topic: faith inertia. The pandemic has caused many of our faith traditions and activities to grind to a halt. Our positive momentum, our forward progress, is gone. Most aspects of our faith life have become inert. As my physics teacher would’ve said, this body at rest needs to be acted upon by an outside force to get moving again.

Well, I called Rome and asked the pope to visit parishes in Connecticut and give us a pep talk. But that didn’t fit into his schedule. So, we need another plan. Hey, how about if we ask Jesus to visit parishes in Connecticut and give us a boost? Oh, wait. Christ is already present inside the tabernacles located in every Catholic church. Hmm, maybe that would be a good starting place: a little Eucharistic adoration to jump-start our faith.

I suspect getting our faith lives in gear again will require us to go back to the basics. Why do our churches exist in the first place? Because God is real, Christ is Lord, and we cannot get through this thing called life successfully without worshipping Him as a community. That’s why. 

To be honest, I’m not sure what is the best way for us to recapture our positive faith inertia again. Maybe we just need to take the first step, and then God will take the second step, and by the time we take the third step, we’ll realize it was God who took the first step.

The first step is to go to Mass this weekend. Then make yourself do it again the following week. We are in the season of Lent. This is the perfect opportunity to jump-start our faith activities and get that inertia going again.

We can do it. We MUST do it.