Fr. Chuck’s Column, May 10, 2020

This Wednesday I will have been ordained for 42 years which, believe it or not, is more than half of my life. And having served in various and diverse places around North America (Washington, DC; North Pole, AK; Chicago, IL; Toronto, ONT; Clemson, SC; New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; and of course Austin, TX) I have had a number of different experi-ences of church and priestly life. But I have never lived through anything like what we are all experiencing now with the pandemic.
There were days of uncertainty and fear following the attacks of Sept. 11, when I was pastor of St Paul the Apostle in New York City, and we lost a couple of parishioners and family members of parishioners to the attacks. That was truly scary, but there was a pretty definite enemy, and everybody, and I mean everybody, came together in mutual support and comfort.
Now we have an even deadlier enemy. The coronavirus has killed many more than the terrorists did. And it is not isolated to one part of the country. It attacks both young and old, native and im-migrant, man and woman, rich and poor, people of every race, religion and creed. But we are not coming together.
It bewilders me that so many people do not believe science. Sci-entists and medical professionals do not stand to profit personally from the advice that they give. Do they know fully and complete-ly how the virus behaves, how best to protect ourselves in every situation? Of course not. But they share with us the benefit of their study, their research, their experience, their knowledge and wisdom. And we should listen.
What they tell us may be inconvenient, difficult, unsettling, not at all what we want to hear. But we need to be mature enough, and brave enough, to listen. Because it is for our own good. So, open your mind and your heart. Clear away the cobwebs of suspicion and fear, and listen bravely to the best thinking on this dangerous pandemic, especially when it is difficult to hear. As Jesus has told us, and the UT Tower repeats, “You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.”
On a much happier note, a very special CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS to all Mothers out there on this Mother’s Day.