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Sunday, July 26, 2020

THE FOUR LAST THINGS DENIED



Monsignor Charles Pope has a good article on the pandemic in the good NCR, National Catholic Register. You can read the full article HERE, but here is an excerpt:

In the current pandemic, which is admittedly severe, we have quarantined the healthy along with the sick, the resilient along with the vulnerable. Crippling fear has seized so many people, and at some point, fear begins to feed on itself. We have shut down our economy, depriving many of their livelihoods and of the dignity that comes from working, from using their talents and from providing for their families.

In the Church, collectively speaking, we too have cowered and capitulated. We have not summoned people to trust and faith. We have hidden our teachings on the role of suffering in bringing forth holiness and future glory. We have not presented the theology of death and dying at a time when it is so needed.

We have limited and even denied the sacraments to the faithful, conveying the silent message that physical health is more important than spiritual health. In some dioceses, churches were locked, confessions forbidden, and Holy Communion inaccessible. Some priests who tried to supply Holy Communion to the faithful in a creative manner were criticized by liturgists and bishops. Some tried offering outdoor or “drive-in” Masses and were met with rebuke. In some cases, Mass was forbidden by local authorities, and many backed down in the face of this external pressure. While we could not recklessly disregard civil ordinances, too many of us were content to hunker down and forego public Mass. We would not utter the biblical cry, “Do not be afraid,” out of fear of being called insensitive or irresponsible.

24 comments:

Fr. Michael Kavanaugh said...

Here's the response I just postes to Msgr. Charlie Pope's article:

"I do not find any evidence of “collective paralysis” due to the coronavirus. While some parts of our society have suspended regular operations, others have continued as they did before the pandemic and before necessary – very necessary – measures were put in place to slow the spread of the virus. A phrase such as “cowering in fear” is, I think, hyperbolic generally and not at all descriptive of my response or the response of anyone I know, from my own family members to members of my parish to local Savannah civic authorities. While we have curtailed our interactions with others and while we wear masks and sanitize constantly, no one I am aware of is cowering or suffering from “crippling fear.”

As a reasonably healthy 62 year old, I have taken what I think are common sense precautions to prevent contracting this virus and – here’s the biggie – to prevent my spreading it to anyone else who may be more vulnerable. I have not taken these actions for the selfish reason that I am “in slavery through my fear of death,” but because I don’t want to be a vector for the virus. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to fall ill; but neither am I suffering some spiritual fear of death.

The biblical cry “Do not be afraid” has to be balanced with, “The wise person is cautious and turns from evil; the fool is reckless and gets embroiled.” (Proverbs 14:16) Bishops across this country and around the world recognized the dangers of continuing public mass, particularly in communities with older populations. Prudently, they chose to place restrictions on the public celebration of mass, restrictions that may well have prevented the kind of contagion that was seen in some parishes in New York City and Long Island. As of the beginning of May, one parish in Elmhurst had buried sixty-four members. Imagine how the suspension of mass may have impacted that tragic loss of life and the suffering of those families and that community.

- Fr. Michael J. Kavanaugh

Big Nose said...

Surely there’s a big difference in being afraid and being stupid?!

Sue Hopkins said...

The US should be scared. You have Covid-19 rampaging out of control throughout a large part of your country, and your hospitals are maximum capacity having to set up “death ethics boards” to ration access to medical treatment.

Anonymous said...

Still sticking with your thesis that sharing the chalice is no biggie - I recall all of the “science” you shared with us!

Anonymous said...

Sue Hopkins Kavanaugh,

Everything you stated is demonstrably false. Outside of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut the US bests almost every country in Europe.

Anonymous said...

Big Nose Kavanaugh,

I see you are trying to create a "band wagon" effect by using a couple of different noms de plume

Anonymous said...

The Parish in Elmhurst that buried 64 members is made up largely of low income immigrants who live in housing situations that do not favor social distancing. Many were at a disadvantage from the begining, lacking access to basic heathcare because they dont have insurance.The one hospital where they could get free healthcare, Elmhurst Hospital, was overwhelmed with COVID patients. I don't doubt for a second that suspension of mass was a prudent necessity to try and help slow the spread. It may however, have come too late.

Anonymous said...

Just to add:

The Pastor of the Parish along with Catholic Charites and many volunteers have put in heroic efforts to minister to the needs of those who are out of work and cannot afford even the basic necessities. The community effort in the middle of all the sickness and death is truly amazing.

Anonymous said...

Bee here:

Fr. Kavanaugh on July 26, 2020 at 4:09 said, "...no one I am aware of is cowering or suffering from “crippling fear.”

I know several. For one, my oldest brother and his wife, who are in their early 70's, who did not leave the house, literally, from March 15 to July 1 or so. They had groceries and other things brought to them by their grand-daughter who lives about 20 minutes away. Neither is decrepit, or in dire bad health. They do have conditions that are managed pretty well with medication, but they are not in very bad health. Since early July they are leaving the house, but only for outdoor activities, separate from others, but will not "go inside" anywhere. One of our elderly aunts passed away of natural causes, and they would not come inside the funeral home to the wake, but only attended the burial at the cemetery. They have expressed great fear for myself and other family members who are going about a reasonably normal life. I just roll my eyes.

I know several other people from St. John Cantius parish who have pretty much not left their homes since the pandemic began. They are terrified. It's astounding, because they seem to be very healthy, active people and not much at risk. I have been in contact via email, and they have said they are too afraid to take the chance of getting the illness.

Perhaps you aren't aware of anyone cowering or suffering from "crippling fear" because they are locked in their homes and not coming out at all. If that's the case, how would you be aware of it?

God bless.
Bee

Anonymous said...

Bee here:

The priest at our parish gave an excellent homily this morning. He spoke about the relationship of our soul to our body. In a nutshell, he said we are neither pure spirit, like the angels, or pure flesh, like the "brutes" (his word.)" We are an "compound" of flesh and spirit. But there is a hierarchy, and the soul is superior to the flesh, and must rule over it. It is true the flesh has needs, and makes constant demands on us, but it is the soul that must always retain it's superior position, subjecting the flesh to itself. After all, the flesh will die, the soul will live eternally.

In light of this homily, it seems so very evident that although we have a duty to preserve our flesh and care for it, that requirement can never take precedence over the care of our souls. Our bodies are the servants of our souls.

If you'd like to listen to the entire homily, it's available here and begins at about 15:40 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHlsw75mBNk

God bless.
Bee

Anonymous said...

If the soul is " superior" to the flesh, why is the soul completely dependent on the flesh to exist in this world?

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

A@7:05, you should do your homework and report back. Why just ask the question for others to do your work?

Anonymous said...

For some reason the question asked by anon 7:05 reminds me in part of the writings of Saint Catherine of Genoa on purgatory. I would highly recommend them in a search for a possible answer to the question.

Fr. Michael Kavanaugh said...

Bee - I wear a seatbelt when I drive, use my blinkers, check rearview mirrors when backing up, and never hold my phone when I am driving?

Am I "cowering in fear?" No.

When an evacuation order is given for our coastal area due to the approach of a hurricane, I leave.

Do I do this because I suffer from "crippling fear?" No.

What I do when I drive or when a hurricane is coming is wise, it is prudent, and it serves my health and well-being and that of the community in which I live.

Your elder brother and his wife have responded to the threat of serious illness by taking wise and prudent precuations.

When people like Msgr, Pope turn their own personal angst, their own personal disgruntlement into arguments against prudence in the midst of a pandemic, when they make absurd and hyperbolic statememnts about "crippling" and "cowering," they are only making it plain that THEY are the ones who need to chill a bit, to understand WHY we are in the mess we are in, and what THEY should be doing to inhibit the spread of the virus.



Anonymous said...

"A@7:05, you should do your homework and report back. Why just ask the question for others to do your work?"

Here's the research you need, Padre:

"A rhetorical question is one for which the questioner does not expect a direct answer: in many cases it may be intended to start a discourse, or as a means of putting across the speaker's or author's opinion on a topic."

Anonymous said...

Bee,

People like Father Kavanaugh do not care that religious freedom is being suppressed in the name of questionable science, while his party's rioting and looting goes on, with no one from his party questioning it and issuing any public health concerns. This whole episode shows how otherwise reasonable people can be manipulated by a corrupt and evil left-wing media.

Anonymous said...

Bee,

More news on the Dem Party's stormtroopers supported by clerical loons:

"San Luis Obispo, Calif. – After blocking traffic on Highway 101 in Central California, Black Lives Matters activists ignored the pleas of a motorist to take a pregnant woman in labor to a nearby hospital.

The BLM group, rather than allowing the distressed family pass through the blockade, wanted instead to “have a conversion” about race issues."

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1:16 - You forgot "Her Emails," "Pizzagate," "Whitewater," and "Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi!"

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Kavanagh at 6:57,

You forgot your heroine trashing Democratic women: Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, etc., being trashed for accurately reporting on her husband’s depredations. Please also report back to us on how the “science” supports drinking from the common chalice.



George said...


Anonymous July 27, 2020 at 7:05 AM said...

" If the soul is " superior" to the flesh, why is the soul completely dependent on the flesh to exist in this world?

God created us as human beings with both body and soul. The soul is the fundamental aspect of our being since it need not be attached to a physical body in order for us to be. At death, the body begins its process of decomposition but the soul remains. The soul is therefore not dependent on the body, but the physical part of us is what we "wear" in order to exist on this earthly plane. Not unlike astronauts who wear a suit when they step out into space lest they instantly perish. While they need a special suit to exist in a harsh environment, no one would say that they are not superior to the suit they don.

Anonymous said...

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-dialogue-between-soul-body-self-love-spirit/id667582750

Saint Catherine of Genoa

Anonymous said...

George - Your statement moves dangerously close to an unCatholic dualism in terms of body and soul.

CCC 362 The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual. The biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language when it affirms that "then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God."

The human being is body and soul, not a soul temporarily housed in a discardable body.

CCC 365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature."

The unity is profound. Not a "body with a soul" or a "soul with a body," but a single nature.

George said...

Anonymous @ July 28, 2020 at 8:49 AM

If I left that impression, I apologize. I do not subscribe to dualism or anything close to that. God in the Person of His Son took on our physical nature, and in this way through His suffering and death in the physical body, performed the necessary Redemptive act for the unmerited benefit of our salvation. Christ's human body, which is inseparably united to His Divine Nature, was subsequently glorified, which will redound to us in the rejoining of our body and soul at the end of time, if we do what He desires of us.
I was just trying to make the point that there might be those who read the comment of Anonymous July 27, 2020 at 7:05 AM and come to the conclusion that the physical body is necessary for the existence of the soul.

George said...

I will add another clarification. In the comment of Anonymous @ July 27, 2020 which I was addressing, in considering that body and soul are different, one might be inclined in pondering the question that was posed, to entertain or adopt a dualist perspective. I consider that a possibility if it is read without a Catholic sensibility, even if not the intent of Anonymous. That was certainly not intended in my first comment since I do not diverge in any way when it comes to Catholic teaching as it concerns our God-created nature.