Editor's note: A forfeiture is "the loss or giving up of something as a penalty for wrongdoing." Reflect on that definition as you read Father's column on the "Great Forfeiture." Our Lord and Savior gave Himself up as a holocaust on the altar of sacrifice as a penalty for OUR sins, the innocent Lamb of God. And yet, as Father points out, we do not lose Him in the giving up. In His gracious mercy He abides with us still in all the tabernacles of the world even til the end of time.
Even during this time of pain and suffering and loss of the Mass, when so many churches are actually closed and locked, He remains with us. If they lock us out of our local church (as they've done to churches in Pittsburgh where my daughter lives) I will be kneeling on the steps outside gazing at the tabernacle through the glass doors and praying. May God have mercy on us in this time when the faith of many is wavering as they put their trust in the CDC rather than in Almighty God. Prudence is one thing; fear and panic is quite another.
THE GREAT FORFEITURE by Fr. Tom Collins
