We are now fully in pandemic response mode. Again, you are excused from Sunday Mass attendance. If you are sick, or just not feeling well, or have been exposed to someone who has been exposed to the virus, or are sixty years or older, PLEASE STAY HOME!!! Your obligation is not to attend Mass but rather to NOT attend Mass. We don’t know what will happen in the long run. We can say that Holy Week and Easter will happen with or without a congregation. We can say that we will get through this.
Hopefully, most of us will not get sick as younger people and children seem relatively more immune to this virus. Eventually life will resume a normal pace. Some of us will get sick, and then get better. It will be like a bad case of the flu. By next year we could have a vaccine for this virus, and we will be much better at controlling it.
Some of us will, no doubt, get sick, not recover, and die from it. That is just the reality. But none of us live forever anyway. In fact, we know through faith that our ultimate destiny is NOT here in this life, but with God forever in Heaven. A few years more or less on this earth really doesn’t make much difference in the long run. That is not our society’s common wisdom, but it is the truth. We approach this current crisis, as we approach all things in life, from the perspective of faith. At least that is what we are called to do. Our society values a LONG life. Our faith values a HOLY life. The two are not the same. In the long run a short, holy life is much better than a long, unholy life.
Meanwhile, we have to deal with the daily disruptions caused by the virus. Everyone has their favorite “folk-remedy” methods of staying healthy. Mine is to drink more coffee and take naps. Even if that doesn’t really help, it makes me feel better.
Wishing us all Good Health and Peace,
