Across the world, Catholic churches are cautiously navigating their new reality, being the Body of Christ during a pandemic. Pastors and lay leaders have shown the Church's resilience by safely, and often rapidly, implementing Archdiocesan directives in their parishes. Charlie Martinez, OFM, pastor of St. Peter Catholic Church in Roswell, New Mexico, is a prime example of Franciscan flexibility and pastoral shepherding.

When New Mexican government officials first lifted restrictions for churches on Thursday, May 14, 2020, Fr. Charlie sprang into action to create a plan to celebrate Masses that very weekend. Some of the safety measures included wearing face masks, social distancing, limiting attendance, and eliminating singing. Fr. Charlie lightly shared, "with apologies to all of our parish Pavarotti's, no singing," Fr. Charlie asked his parishioners for their continued patience, "There is still much that is unknown about how best to walk through this very dangerous virus." Mass attendance was slow to rise, as St. Peter Catholic Church was under its capacity limit (65 people) the first opening weekends. After a month of public masses, the parish is gradually reaching capacity.

As the Body of Christ has done repeatedly throughout history, even when facing a crisis, the Church continues to move forward. Despite these unusual times, St. Peter's has celebrated First Holy Communions, weddings, Confirmations and even received new members into the faith through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults and Children. Although the Sacraments may look different, God's grace is still at work, even behind a face mask.