Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s

Given the bulletin deadlines, unfortunately, I can’t give you an update on what we are doing. The pastoral staff is meeting this Tuesday and the Finance and Pastoral Councils will be meeting Tuesday evening to discuss our plan for reopening the parish based on the Bishop’s directives. Unfortunately, because of the     bulletin deadline, this has to be in on Tuesday and therefore the update will have to come via live streaming, our website, YouTube, Flocknote, and Facebook. As I dictate this bulletin message, I can tell you that the  Bishop has issued a large document with directives regarding how we can proceed with getting back to celebrating the sacraments with all of you. We hope to be able to announce what church building will be available for you to access in order to provide private prayer. You will need to follow the guidelines posted on the doors of the church and also to sanitize the space where you have been praying before you leave. Many     people who go to the gym realize that routine. You’re always to sanitize the equipment after you use it as a courtesy to those who will follow you. We hope to have a sanitation product available for you to use. But it will require that you sanitize your spot before you leave. We will have no idea in what part of the church you have been and that will be your responsibility to do that for the sake of the person following you. We thank you for your cooperation.

Jesus reminds us in the great commandment that we are to love God with all our mind, all our heart and all our strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we understand these inconveniences in light of those two commandments, then we can go about all of this with joy and determination. I can’t imagine that it would be pleasing to God for us to spend time in his house or attending a Mass, if we are able, with a total disregard for the well-being of others around us. That certainly wouldn’t be a Christ-like attitude. So the effort that you and I make to protect others from getting any kind of infection from us is certainly an act of love and pleasing to God. There can be debates all day long on all sides of the issues. Wearing masks, not wearing masks,     staying so far apart, doing this, doing that. Everyone has an opinion on what is effective and what is not       effective. And everyone can, at times, feel hassled by all of it. But, remember when Jesus was challenged on whether to pay the temple tax or not, he did not say not to do it. He said give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what belongs to God. The demands that Caesar places on us in the light of this pandemic, we all have to live with out of respect for the government’s authority. Now if the government insists that we do something that is against our conscience, then we can rightfully say “NO.” And if we have the courage, we can defend our no to imprisonment or even death. In which case, we better be sure that we are correct in the eyes of God.

Rendering to God what belongs to God’s is even a bigger question. What is it that we owe to God? Is it not everything we have and are? Ultimately, it comes back to those two commandments—to love God and to love our neighbor. That is what we owe to God besides our very being! So, in the face of all of this, if we are able to spiritually understand the demands placed upon us in light of loving God and loving neighbor, then it makes it all far more bearable.

Please know that the pastoral plan which, tied together with our parish staff and Pastoral and Finance Councils, will probably be done in light of these two commandments and in obedience to the directives we have received from the Bishop. Whether we personally agree or disagree with some of the directives the  Bishop issues doesn’t really matter. There is a higher value here at stake. We have to always balance our pride with humility and our pride with obedience. Together with the priests and deacons of the parish and the    entire pastoral staff, we eagerly look forward to celebrating the sacraments with you in person as soon as  possible. We thank you for your continued support of the parish by your prayers and sacrifices.

I am very grateful to all of you who have been supporting the parish and our food pantry. Your donations and your service have helped hundreds upon hundreds of families in our community over these last several weeks. We all know that this is certainly very pleasing to God! When we put our faith into action and serve our neighbor out of love and compassion, we cannot go wrong.

Let us all continue to do the good work of Christ in the corporal works of mercy. I know that most of you have not been able to receive the Eucharist under the form of the Lord’s body and blood, but that does not prevent ANY of us from living the Eucharist. Receiving our Lord in the blessed sacrament certainly feeds our hungry soul. But it cannot end with just the reception of the sacrament. Living the sacrament is what proves our faith and our love of God. While you have not been able to receive our Lord in the sacrament, you have not been   denied the ability to LIVE the body and blood of Christ. None of us are ever denied the possibility of being Christ for one another. In fact, we are called to be Christ for one another always and everywhere. May we    never lose sight of this truth. 

      God love you,