Catholic Church: Closed for COVID by Marian Casillas, Ed.D.

 

The Catholic Church caved to COVID and closed its doors to the faithful. Not even the United States Postal Service (USPS) closed because it lives by its informal motto, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". The postal workers delivered mail but the Catholic clergy closed up shop and went into hiding. Why didn’t the Church Leaders fight to keep the churches open? Could it be because they do not really believe what they purport to teach? If they truly believed in eternal life then they would act like it, by not being scared of germs or being intimidated by governmental authorities.

Throughout the centuries the Catholic Church has remained open to administer the Sacraments, for public worship, to bring comfort to the afflicted and peace in the midst of tragedy and turmoil. There have been plagues and pestilences and the Church did not close. There have been wars and conflicts and the Church did not close. There have been persecutions and executions and the Church did not close.

Yet in the year 2020, the year that means perfect vision, we saw that the clergy had become a band of worldly, compromised men who take their marching orders from men and not from God, who believe in government and not in God, who put their faith in the words of experts instead of putting their faith in The Word of God.

Unfortunately both clergy and laity, we did not give a wonderful witness or a tremendous testimony to the power of our faith. The world saw a Church conceding and cooperating with the enemies of the Church instead of boldly and bravely confronting them that could have brought about countless conversions to the faith.

Instead of showing the world the truth of God, we believed the lies of the world.  Instead of believing in the miracles of God, we manifested the inertness of God and the inability of faith to conquer diseases and distress.

Sadly we folded like a deck of cards. We cowered and cringed at the thought of getting sick and dying. We showed the world that we really did not believe in God and everlasting life. No one wants to get sick and die, but sickness and death is part and parcel of living life. But for those who truly believe the human story does not end in death, because there is eternal life, and those who lived what they purported to believe were few and far apart.

The pandemic showed the world that pagans had more faith than believers. Pagans believed in themselves and their own resolve; whereas we who should have shown the world that we believed in God and in our religion, but religion was deemed a non-essential and we all agreed. Churches were closed but abortion facilities, big business stores and marijuana dispensers were open, because those were considered essential.

When all the bars were brimming at full capacity, the bands were playing music, the singers were singing, the patrons were dancing, the beverages were flowing freely and everyone was sharing the snacks at the bar; that goes to show that drinking and dancing were more important to those who have more faith in themselves and are not deathly afraid of dying; while we who profess to believe in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church exhibited little or no faith and were scared of a virus and frightened to die.

What a most sad and sorry sight to behold, but behold it we all did. For the world saw a weak and weary Church that cowered and cringed at the mere mention of a virus. The virus is coming; the virus will kill you, quick lock up all the churches and keep from being a super spreader of the disease, when we should have been a super spreader of the faith. What we heard instead was, “No! a priest cannot give your loved one the Last Rites - Anointing of the Sick, for fear of catching the corona virus. No! a priest cannot distribute Holy Communion for fear of contamination. No! a church cannot be crowded with people because they might be vectors of an infectious disease. We were told we didn’t need to go to Mass because we could watch it being live streamed and that the virus was so virulent we were all dispensed from our Sunday Mass obligation of attending in person but we were not dispensed from keeping the Lord’s Day Holy. And so the story went we were told that we must accept the diktats of our esteemed medical and scientific experts, forget about the doctrines and dogmas of the Church, they were all irrelevant and inconsequential to life during the pandemic.

This was the time for the Catholic Church to shine forth its light and life to the world, but instead we showed the world that we were engulfed by the same darkness and entangled in the same fear of death as everyone else. Our faith should have made us behave differently because we believed differently.

But no one said, “Look at all the faith they have. Look at how they trust in their God. Look at how much they love their God. Look how they truly believe that they receive the Body and the Blood of Christ in their Communion. Look how they live their faith as followers of Christ.”

John 6:53-58: “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”

Sadly what was witnessed by the world instead was how COVID crushed the Catholic Church and the people perished.

But that is not the end of the story, we might have failed miserably during this time of trial but God will have succeeded stupendously.

Matthew 16:18: “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

We cannot begin to imagine what wonderful things God has in store for building up His Church, just wait and see how the Mighty Hand of God will work majestically and magnificently to restore the fundamentals of the faith from the wreckage and the ruins. What was thought to have been lost will rise up and gloriously fulfill the true mission and mandate of our Lord Jesus Christ; of this we can be assured.

It is always darkest before the dawn and the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Gate of Dawn will be instrumental in bringing forth the Light of Her Son Our Lord Jesus Christ, just like she brought Him forth to shine His Light on that dark December night in Bethlehem where she gave birth; likewise in this darkest of these times she will be the Gate of Dawn ushering in the beginning of a new day in the Church. From the remnant in the rubble of the Church crushed by COVID will rise up a revival of a replenished, rejoicing and resplendent Church giving all honor, glory and praise to God.

Our Lady Queen of the Gate of Dawn, pray for us!

 

Marian Casillas, Ed.D.