“The Deacon” (the-deacon.com) is a national magazine focused on the ministry of the Deacon in the Catholic Church. Formerly known as “Deacon Digest”, the name was recently changed by its publisher (Our Sunday Visitor) to parallel its long-running partner, “The Priest.”

In light of the Coronavirus pandemic, “The Deacon” is offering a series of articles from a variety of authors with reflections and suggestions on dealing with the pandemic through the lens of the diaconate. I was asked to submit something to this effort.

It struck me that in dealing with our current crisis, we can find inspiration from some of the approaches our parents and grandparents took to meeting the crises of their times. One of these was the idea of the “Victory Garden” (sometimes called a “War Garden”) During this particular Lent, we too are looking forward to the Victory, both the victory over the Corona Virus, but ultimately the Victory of Christ over sin and death through His Resurrection.

You can read my entire piece here. Thanks to editor Deacon Dominic Cerrato for this wonderful series.