The western world, the United States included, is about as secular, agnostic, and atheist as when Christianity was spreading across Europe. It has been over a millennia since society at large did not share a Judeo-Christian moral foundation, including a general belief that death was not the final word. Now? Now it is fairly common for people who self proclaim as rational to declare they know oblivion is the only rational reality after death, never mind they can't explain the reasoning behind such a conclusion other than not believing in “fairy tails.” Nor can they name a “first cause” prior to the Big Bang, to explain the existence of the mega-dense matter of all the universe that ... goes bang. But they declare two certainties as rational: there can be no God, and death is the end. How terrifying, death without faith!

Many countries, the United States included, have culturally turned away from multi-generational living. COVID-19 is exposing some of the weak spots in this change. Among the weak spots is young families with rent/mortgages who just lost their jobs and have no family nearby. Chances are, we will emerge from this with more young families living with their parents or aunts and uncles. Elderly parents/grandparents often live in a retirement community of some sort. COVID-19 prompts separation and two-weeks quarantine if one leaves. This can leave a grandparent suddenly alone if their spouse needs medical attention, regardless of if it is coronavirus related or not, and hard choices regarding to stay on their own, or stay with family for the duration.

Ten fingers. One decade of the rosary. Most of us came equipped with a built-in rosary. And in this pandemic, more and more people are wondering how to pray. This is how you pray the rosary.

Thrust into the space called home near twenty-four-seven? Budget realities setting in that while buying take out daily helps local restaurants survive, it's expensive without the same income coming in? Getting tired of the poor quality of entertainment, riff with promotion of sin? Seeing the clutter of your home pile up? It's time to create hearth, the way hearth was created by so many of our grandmothers or great-great grandmothers.

Teaching public school curricula at home directly as a parent or through distance learning online is vastly different from homeschooling.

Parents are scrambling to get a computer or tablet so their kids can school at home, with the packet (curricula) provided by their child's teacher. This is not homeschooling; this is schooling at home. It is important we name the difference because educators are already trying to claim parents aren't qualified to teach their children, and after the dust settles and if parents and students who had schooling at home forced upon them underperform or no-show, public educators will, in a massive show of inability to think critically and logically, will conflate that with “see, parents are not qualified to teach.”

Various and sundry dry good thoughts that may just be me.

• “Unprecedented” is being used at globally unprecedented levels.
• Being so unprecedented means no one knows much of anything, because, how could they. This virus is unprecedented. This near simultaneous global shut down is unprecedented.

Catholics believe that parents are the primary educators of their children. IT is also a basic human right for parents to educate their children. Whatever your faith, the shutting down of schools due to COVID19 is a reminder of our call, and there are plenty of gifts and challenges to rise up and answer it. Know and trust that God gives the grace needed to all parents, we just need to open our hearts, that we might run toward Jesus with open arms and receive the gifts of grace he has already given us!