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Reflections of a Lay Catholic

Reflections of a Lay Catholic

Tag Archives: Covid-19

An Inconvenient Pandemic

14 Sunday Feb 2021

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Bible Reflections

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

1 Cor 10:31-11:1, Corona virus, Covid-19, Healing of the Leper, Lv 13:44-46, Mk 1:40-46, Pandemic

Christ Healing the Leper

About a month ago, on a Tuesday, I had cataract surgery on my right eye.  I went in on Wednesday for a follow-up visit and all looked fine.  But, by Thursday, my vision in that eye was a little cloudier than it was the day before so I made an appointment to go back in on Friday.  However, also on Wednesday, I was having some chest congestion, some shortness of breath and a minor headache, so I made an appointment to get a Covid-19 rapid test at a clinic.  A quick swab up the nose and bingo!, I had Covid.

Well, I had to do the right thing and let the ophthalmologist’s office know I had Covid. After some hemming and hawing, they decided I could still keep my appointment with some conditions:  I had to wait outside until they were ready for me, they had to prepare a room just for me, I had to double mask with my mask taped to my face, and I couldn’t speak while I was in the office.  On top of that, the doctor came in attired in full operating garb from head to toe.  

It was an inconvenience for me but I didn’t take it personally.  I knew the doctor couldn’t afford to catch the virus and risk giving it to other patients.  But, when I got home I told my wife that I now knew how the lepers of biblical times must have felt!

This morning’s Scripture passages brought this recollection to mind.  We heard in the first reading, Leviticus 13:1-2 & 44-46, how the Lord told Moses and Aaron that those with a “scaly infection” (leprosy) shall be declared unclean, be required to cry out “unclean, unclean!” whenever near another person, and shall dwell apart from other people. It always seemed cruel to me that they should be outcast from society, and I always felt sorry for them because there was no known cure which would allow their re-entry.

Today, as I meditated on that passage, I saw that there was perhaps a purpose behind God’s instructions to Moses and Aaron.  An uncontrolled outbreak of the contagious disease could wipe out a significant portion of a civilization.  I can see how God, in His wisdom, saw the necessity to sacrifice a few for the benefit of many.

This theme carried over into today’s second reading, 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1, in which St. Paul says, “…do everything for the glory of God.  Avoid giving offense…just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved.  Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

And then, in the Gospel, Mark 1:40-45, we read about how Jesus, moved with pity, cleansed the leper.  My first thought was that Jesus, as I would expect, was more concerned about that one leper than he was for Himself and His disciples.  But, then I considered that Jesus, seeing the bigger picture, obeyed the Father’s instructions to a tee, with one significant twist:  He sacrificed Himself on a cross for the benefit of many, including you and me, and for the salvation of our souls.

Ever since the onset of the Corona virus pandemic, people’s opinions have been all across the spectrum on how we should live with it.  Some are extremely cautious while others throw caution to the wind.  There is much debate about whether masks are effective and if they are safe for the wearer or if they make matters worse.  We are a mobile society which makes isolation painful, if not impossible, for some folks.  Throw in the politicized aspects of the pandemic and one doesn’t know whom or what to believe.

I dislike wearing a mask as much as the next person.  But, our society, our culture, our entire civilization for that matter, is mobile and cannot isolate completely.  Thus, measures were implemented to protect the general population, the many, until science could catch-up.   And, so, I had to ask myself if it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.  I decided last year to wear my mask, including wearing it to church.  Not because I wanted to, or because the Governor told us to, but because my pastor asked me to for the well-being of the many.  Today, understanding that God advised the Levite priests to do much the same, brought me some consolation.  

I found even more consolation in knowing that Christ sought not His own benefit but that of the many when he offered Himself as a sacrifice for all souls, including mine, that we may be saved.  If He did that for me, then I can live with a little inconvenience.

“All loving and merciful God, I pray for the souls of those who have succumbed to this virus and for those who have suffered and survived, and I pray for a speedy end to the pandemic.  Until then, I pray that, in our inconvenience, we may imitate Jesus and make just a small sacrifice for the benefit of the many.  Amen.”

(An Inconvenient Pandemic was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

©2013-2021 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author(s) and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.

The Lonesome Lenten Fish Fry Blues

01 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Lent

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Coronavirus, Covid-19, Fish Fries, Lent

Ever since this Coronavirus pandemic kicked in it seems our world has been turned upside down. Well, at least we’ve experienced out of the ordinary inconveniences. For us Catholics it’s been so disheartening to not be able to attend mass and receive Jesus in the Eucharist. Many parishes have suspended hearing confessions, leaving our souls at risk. Throw in all the Bible studies, retreats, and social gatherings that have been canceled or postponed, and we’re all in a tizzy. But, for some of us, the worst nightmare of all has been missing the Parish Lenten Fish Fries. I know, I feel your pain.

I was rueing over this yesterday and my mouth began to water for that deep-fried flavor of filleted fish. Here in Ohio, folks prefer their fish beer battered, and sometimes there’s more batter than fish. Personally, I prefer a Southern fried corn meal breading. But, I’ll take what I can get. As I was pondering this, the line came to mind, “It really doesn’t matter if it’s corn meal or beer battered”, and I realized I had something around which I could build a future Billboard #1 hit song. Well, maybe I’ll post it at the top of my home bulletin board. Maybe.

But, I know so many of you share my angst about having to sip tomato soup on Fridays. I know you’d rather be at your parish hall loading up on fish and french fries and washing it down with a cold one. And, you miss catching up on all the gossip that you’d be confessing the next afternoon. So, I dedicate this little ditty to all of you fellow fish fry fanatics.

Oh, by the way, I can write lyrics but I have no musical ability. So, I have to steal tunes. This one is loosely fashioned around Jim Croce’s 1974 hit, “Working at the Car Wash Blues”. Maybe some of you baby boomers will remember it. If not, you can Google it.

The Lonesome Lenten Fish Fry Blues – Lyrics by Jerry Robinson

Well, I was all fired up for the Lenten season,
Had my resolutions typed up neat,
Quitin’ ice cream, layin’ off a cold beer,
And on Fridays I’d abstain from meat.
I planned to fast all week so that I could eat
And stuff myself to the point of abuse,
But I don’t smell the grease fryin’, so now I be cryin’
And singin’ the Lonesome Lenten Fish Fry Blues.
Now this COVID nineteen’s got the world in a mess,
Social distancing’s the new way to roll.
Now I’m stuck at the house and I have to confess
My home cookin’ simply got no soul.
My tastebuds are lackin’ and my lips ain’t a smackin’
On that delectable dish that I choose,
It really don’t matter, corn meal or beer batter,
When I got the Lonesome Lenten Fish Fry Blues.
Yeah, it’s sacrifice and penance I still have to live
‘Cause the Lord gave it all up for me,
But this Co-rona-virus, man, it’s sure gonna try us!
When will the CDC set us all free?
And, this self-isolation has turned to frustration,
I hate it ‘cause I have to refuse
From trekkin’ on down to the church hall in town,
Now I got the Lonesome Lenten Fish Fry Blues
Lord, You know I believe, so please send a reprieve
From these Lonesome Lenten Fish Fry Blues!

I love you all! God bless! Enjoy your tomato soup!

(The Lonesome Lenten Fish Fry Blues was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

©2013-2020 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author(s) and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.

Coping with Sacrifice and Sadness Through a Month of Holy Saturdays

22 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Eucharist

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Tags

Communion, Coronavirus, Covid-19, Eucharist, Holy Saturday, Hosea 6:1-6, Rosary, Sacrifice, Spiritual Communion

Earlier this week the bishops in most dioceses in the United States, if not all, decided to suspend all public masses and other sacramental gatherings through Holy Week, including Easter Sunday, as a means to minimize the spread of the Coronavirus. Like most of you, I have had mixed feelings. I know the “social distancing” directions which are currently imposed on us are the right thing to do. But, to be forced to go without receiving our Lord in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a hard pill to swallow. I can accept the trial of staying home Monday through Saturday and missing daily mass. I don’t want to but I can live with it. But, missing Sunday, and especially missing Easter Sunday, the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection, will be difficult.

Priests and bishops around the country have done a marvelous job, in my opinion, of producing podcasts and live streaming videos of their personal masses from their rectory chapels. They are also televising the praying of the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplets and going the extra mile to keep the faithful engaged. But, it’s still not the same.

A young priest, Fr. Jeffrey Starkovich from Lake Charles, Louisiana (and a high school classmate of my daughters), posted on his Facebook page the other day an anecdote, if you will, that helped me wrap my mind around this emptiness. He said:

“Every priest acknowledges a powerful reality when we say the words of our consecration at Holy Mass. We take the bread into our hands and say, ‘This is my Body, which will be given up for you.’ The priest has a unique perspective at that moment. Indeed, he gives up his own body to make the Body of Christ present: celibacy for the Kingdom, obedience to his bishop or superior, and availability to his people night and day, just to name a few.

“Today was hard. I sat in my empty parish church when mass was normally scheduled to be held…but the church was empty. Why? Because, ‘This is my Body, which will be given up for you.’ Now [you] the lay faithful exercise a particular sacrifice in their priesthood of the baptized. You are being asked to sacrifice your body, your physical presence at mass, to protect the Body of Christ at large. Now, you, too, are being asked to make a sacrificial gift.

“When you watch the priest raise the Host from your tablet or cell phone and he says, ‘This is my Body,’ you have something to give up, too. You give up your physical presence in the church. In that moment, you are giving up your body for the Body of Christ. That’s what priests do, too.”

I have tried to keep his words in mind as I’ve tuned in to live streamed masses each day this week. In watching the televised masses, praying and participating in the Liturgy of the Word, reading the scripture passages, and meditating on the homilies, we have everything but the Eucharist, the food that nourishes our souls, the source and summit of our faith. But, as a substitute for the physical communion with our Lord in the Eucharist, we are offered a special prayer by which we can express our love for Jesus and which brings us into “spiritual” communion with Him. The prayer is as follows:

Oh my Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

Receiving spiritual communion in this way through televised masses has relieved some of my uneasiness. Although, I still feel as a friend mentioned to me today, “This must be what Purgatory is like: you can see the celebration of the mass happening, but you just can’t receive Jesus.”

For a long time, I have faithfully recited a Rosary each day and praying for Mary’s intercession has been most helpful to me in staying close to Jesus. A friend and mentor, Fr. Alessandro Borraccia, posted in a Facebook video some consoling words:

“These are hard times. These are times when we feel like the Apostles who didn’t really know what to think when Jesus was taken from them. Do you remember there was that time on Holy Saturday when Jesus is dead, the Son of God is dead, and the Apostles are confused and angry and their hope is crushed? They don’t know how to respond. They are sad. Jesus is not with them. Where is He?

“You know, maybe we have the same sense of loss now that we can’t participate in the Eucharist. We can not receive our Lord, at least sacramentally. Yes, we can receive Him through this beautiful practice of spiritual communion. Yes, we can see a lot of live streamed masses but we know it’s different.

“So, what did the Apostles do? The Apostles relied on Mary and her faith. Holy Saturday is a time when the Church relies heavily upon the faith of Mary, upon her prayer, because she knows and she keeps everyone together, all her children. We, like the Beloved disciple, have been entrusted to her.

“And, so, these times are the same for us, when we feel the same loss, confusion, anger, sadness. It’s a time for us to rely heavily on the faith of Mary, asking Mary, ‘How did you do it? What was going on in your heart, your sorrowful heart? What can you teach me today in my situation?’

“The Rosary is a great prayer. Maybe just sit in front of an image or a statue of her and have a heart to heart with her: ‘Mary, teach me. I’m living in a very prolonged Holy Saturday. There must be a way to stay intimate with Him, to feel His consolation. Like a good mother, you know how to take care of your children and to soothe their pain, to find words of consolation, and whisper those little words of love.’

“In this time, I encourage all of us to turn back to Mary to ask her to protect us, to teach us how to seek the Lord when He is missing, when the Eucharist, the food for our journey, has been taken away from us. And, so, in this communion we can bring fruit, we can be good disciples, good apostles, and go through all situations of life, strengthened by the faith of Mary our Mother, by the faith of our Church, by the prayer that we, the Church as the Body of Christ, raise up to God together in time of distress. And, so, before we know it, a long time will pass. We don’t know how long. But, resurrection will come and we will be so different, strengthened by the faith of the Church.”

Today’s Scripture also provided some relief. In the first reading, Hos 6:1-6, we hear God, through the prophet Hosea, reprimand the Israelites for practicing ritual sacrifices and burnt offerings but with only a “piety as thin as a morning mist, like a dew that early passes away.” This reminded me that I, first and foremost, need to love and trust in God. I know He wants to give Himself to me in the Eucharist, but, aside from that sacrifice, He wants, above all, a loving relationship with me. Through my spiritual communion and daily prayer I can give Him my heart-felt love without receiving him personally in the Eucharist. I find comfort in that.

Like you, brothers and sisters, I pray this Coronavirus pandemic ends soon. I would like for life to return to normal. But, in the mean time, I will use this time to deepen my faith through study, and grow in my relationships with Christ through prayer and meditation, and with my family. I hope you will, too. Who knows, perhaps it will lead to a new normal that will be better than what we had! That would be nice.

God bless you all. Wash your hands. Stay home. Stay healthy.

“Lord God, thank You for the many blessings in my life. Thank You for the love You give that nourishes my soul. I pray that your absence in the Holy Eucharist will help me to love You more. And, thank You for the situation we currently find ourselves in. I don’t know why it is happening, nor how long it will last. But, I believe that You do and that You will bring about good for those who trust in You. Amen.”

(Coping with Sacrifice and Sadness Through a Month of Holy Saturdays, was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

©2013-2020 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author(s) and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.

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