Drive-thru blessings

By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic

OAKLAND PARK | If you can't go to church, maybe the church can come to you?

Father Bob Tywoniak met parishioners part way at his parish, Blessed Sacrament, in response to the social distancing precautions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. For two weekends, he brought a monstrance out to the arching driveway of the church, then blessed parishioners' cars as they filed by.

He held the drive-thru for two weekends at regular Mass times, starting March 21-22, at 4 p.m. Saturdays and 9 and 10:45 a.m. Sundays. He ended only when Archbishop Thomas Wenski declared all church operations to pause because of the statewide stay-at-home order issued April 1, 2020 by Florida’s governor.

The blessing was "poignant, moving," to many of the parishioners, Father Tywoniak said. "A couple of nuns were moved to tears."

Each time it began as a standard Mass in a church that was empty except for an assistant. Father Tywoniak then placed the consecrated host in a monstrance and walked outside to the church's U-shaped driveway. As cars pulled in, a volunteer handed them bulletins, using long kitchen tongs instead of his hand.

Then at the next stop, Father Tywoniak blessed each car, making the sign of the cross with the monstrance. Finally, an assistant held out a basket on a pole for whoever wished to donate.

Attendance was small the first weekend, but grew to 175 people on the second, Father Tywoniak said.

Feedback was more than positive, the priest said — it was more like lavish.

"Thank you, Father, for doing this," one parishioner wrote. "Thank you, Jesus," another said more simply.

Commented Father Tywoniak: "Jesus was still coming to them."

He still stands outside the church on weekends for the growing number of visitors to the church's prayer garden. Standing at a safe social distance, he waves and says hello.

Visits on Blessed Sacrament's website have also risen, Father Tywoniak said, although he didn’t have exact figures. The site features his weekly video messages, plus written columns.

At the end of the videos, he recommends another adjustment to the pandemic: that people revive the custom of making the sign of the cross whenever they pass a Catholic church, as a recognition of the Real Presence in the form of the consecrated host.

"The church building itself is like a giant monstrance," Father Tywoniak said. "That's one reason we spend the time and treasure to build churches."

He said he would like to resume the drive-through blessing, whenever local authorities declare that the peak of the coronavirus has passed. "It's safe, and it's a good stepping stone. It's being face to face with the pastor. And it's the Real Presence."