I'm actually looking forward to a return to "normalcy." I miss singing in the choir. I hope we don't have to wait until school starts up in the fall to return to choir rehearsals. I think it's important to take the lessons learned during the pandemic and make sure we don't forget them.

I have concerns about allowing the hand shake of peace and drinking from the chalice back into the liturgy. I was never really in favor of these actions. When I was growing up there was no hand shake of peace, and the only time I seen anyone drink from the chalice other than the priest was at a wedding and then it was bride and groom only. But that's just my opinion.

I also miss my family get togethers, this past Christmas and Easter were especially difficult, perhaps we will have a Christmas in July!

I didn't realize how much I missed being physically at Mass until I returned after I was vaccinated. I am in NYC and I streamed my Parish masses but occasionally substituted St. John Cantius myself (always go there when visiting Chicago). St. John Cantius also streams Vespers so I may add that on a periodic basis.

I know that many of my peers living in the urban/suburban northeast of the US will retain their masks to wear to reduce risk of colds and flu in the future peak seasons for that, and also for poorly ventilated indoor spaced where folks remain relatively stationery in close quarters with others for a prolonged period of time - as has been common in eastern Asia for many years well before this. They've also help mitigate tree pollen intake, as it were.

I am very happy that I am in the process of retiring from commuting and office work.

I've was very happy to return to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston when it reopened after the two-month lockdown last spring; Mass on television was not particularly anything.

I suspended attendance during the mid-December to mid-February period, and during that time I was content to attend the music-free early Sunday AM Mass locally. And, compulsory handshakes went the way of the dodo bird in my local area parishes (we're New Englanders, after all, God's Frozen People...) after the 2009 H1N1 epidemic and I expect that will become even more widely the case in other regions in the coming months. I prefer the modest bow of the head to the handwave....

I doubt that Randolph is in need of such particular instruction, though I acknowledge others may benefit from it. My shorthand version is "Live is not the same as Memorex", a handle I developed to explain US mutual fund advertising regulation but found applicable in many other contexts, including liturgical. For the same reason, I am not a fan of any liturgy where people's participation is mediated through a screen - be it a papal mega-Mass or overflow provisions for parish Masses at Easter and Christmas (have a separate Mass for the overflow area on a time-lag - that's a much better resolution of the issue.)

I really enjoyed rediscovering how to make time for reading, study, art and so on. As things re-opened it's been more difficult to maintain those things (there are more social activities clamoring for attention). One of the biggest changes for me recently is that several parishes have returned to permitting reception of Communion on the tongue. I don't think it was ever specifically banned on the diocesan level: one could receive on the tongue at the TLM and at a couple of conservative confraternity chapels, but most parish priests mandated it in their own parishes. This means I can return to going to Mass more than once or twice a week, which has been a huge joy. I really love ending the day with a quick trip to a local parish for one of those late evening 30 minute Masses. It just resets the mind and heart, and seems a lovely way to give thanks. Singing was not forbidden here, and except for a brief spate in 2020 churches have not been closed, so those things haven't changed much. The main thing that got shut down with a heavy hand was malls, restaurants, bars, and parks, so the biggest change in my time-spent was leisure/social time, rather than religious. The continued '2 meter spacing' in churches is a pleasure which I wouldn't mind keeping, as it prevents people chattering and you don't have to touch anyone. And the extra efforts in cleaning are also nice, as churches were often quite dirty, us being in a busy city. The bathrooms are extra clean now, too. And I enjoy using the mask in indoor spaces for the sense of privacy it gives. If you do a veil, mask and sunglasses you can have total privacy while you pray. Or hide your zits or puffy eyes from the other ladies. ;)

In this Archdiocese, all 'distancing' rules have been taken down. At the mid-morning Mass in my parish, we were about 2/3rds capacity and virtually zero masks. However, the choirs have not returned, leaving the music minister-ette to endlessly repeat hymn accompaniment so as to 'cover' Communion.

We are in the fortunate position of an island, imposing quarantine on arriving travellers, and with no cases since 1st May not already quarantined. So we are pretty relaxed. No chalice sharing, and no peace touching, but communal singing and less than 1% masked. I have not ventured on public transport, or into a pub/bar. I was viewing online Mass every day, but am now attending Mass in person almost every day (23 years retired). The music is much better online, but the music is not why I go to Mass. Viewing Mass (or the Office) online is easier for me currently than solitary prayer, I have felt differently in the past.

I found "going to" Mass online made me very sad. I still watched, but it didn't feel like Mass. I watched out of a sense of "Sunday Obligation" and also curiosity about the choices and execution of the music. The plus side was that when it was possible to begin to attend Mass again, I was grateful for the opportunity. The online capability came late to our parish, but I was also grateful for that as 2 of my brothers who could not travel home were able to view my mother's funeral Mass and it brought them some comfort.

CharlesW I pray that you are not correct about there being more plagues. The cicadas are coming, though....

Even though I was fortunate enough to do music for livestreamed masses at my church last spring, I still pulled up the livestream from others out of curiosity for what sort of music they did.

I won't miss them...not that I watched them much to begin with. There's a certain irony in all this that, for many years, those who wished to attend the traditional Mass were criticized as being mere spectators at Mass and not really participating compared to those attending the Novus Ordo until these restrictions were put into place and everyone was told to watch Mass on a screen...

Community is necessary in this life. For the vast majority of Catholics, the normal community in which to live is the parish. Given that some people on this thread are still reluctant to fully return to normal parish life, I can only imagine what the average Joe thinks.

The idea that Mass is being celebrated 24/7 really brings home:

"May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time. Amen."

I think I have watched 1 or 2 or 3 live-streamed Masses since the pandemic, one of which was the Easter Vigil at which a friend in a distant place was confirmed. I lost my job at the very beginning of the pandemic, and took a new one in August, so I was on the bench for most of it. When not, we read Morning Prayer of the Sunday from the LOTH at home, and (as possible with a baby) sang the propers. I did often listen to the homilies from priests I feel preach well, but really what’s special to me (beyond the Eucharist) about Westminster Cathedral or any other such place of pilgrimage is the choirs. Those were out of action due to the pandemic, so I did not feel particularly attracted to their livestreams any more than an ordinary parish with a cantor and organ. Neither could bring Jesus into my house. So it seemed more fruitful to gather two or three together and pray the liturgical prayer appropriate and accessible to us in the lay state.

My parish is going to continue to stream in perpetuity. By now we have all the equipment, staff, and knowledge necessary to do it really well, and the reality is that the generation of folks now heading off to senior facilities have lived in the internet age for the last 25 years and know how to work an iPad by now. So they, along with any parishioner who happens to be home sick on Sunday, anyone immunocompromised, anyone stuck in an airport or hospital, can stay connected.