A Christmas Post Mortem
A Happy Year of Grace 2021 to all readers and friends of the blog Scutum et Lorica! I am very blessed to be here. One of the top pieces of advice given to bloggers when they begin their output, which I have routinely ignored, is that content must be regular, or the blog will lose popularity. However, since popularity is not my goal, and quality is more important than quantity, I have not held myself to the standard of churning out many small pieces, but instead what I consider to be medium-sized essays which address a particular theme. Add to my own disregard of the capital rules of blogging to the demands of Priestly ministry, and I am sure many of you can understand why I have been inactive as of late.
I love to write Christmas devotionals, as I did last year and the year before. Advent in particular is so rich in its liturgical content. This year I could not bring myself to make much more than was necessary for homily preparation. However, 2020 was unique in that is was not just the Christmas rush, but the Christmas rush during the pandemic, which ‘necessitated’ the multiplication of Masses and virtual means to observe the same. Christmas was a logistical nightmare in many places. We have still not exceeded 60% of regular attendance for Sunday Mass, and although people did sign up for Masses on Christmas, only about half(!) of those people actually came. Attendance was so small, we at the last minute decided to cancel an overflow Mass in the parish hall, simply because we could fit easily everyone in Church, social distancing and all.
In many places, parishes have invested thousands of dollars in new video equipment, both in recording and processing, which have thus far yielded an amount of “views” which, in my mind, do not justify the expenditure. I heard before Christmas a recently ordained Priest say that according to their YouTube analytics, the majority of people who “watched” the Mass did not watch more than 5-10 minutes. People were treating it like any other piece of social media; many clicked “share”, but did not bother watching the whole Mass. I have checked our own analytics, and the numbers are similar. I am very interested to know, as I sure are many Pastors, A) Who are watching the Mass, B) Are they our regulars, and C) What is the age demographic of viewers?
Fr. Raymond DeSouza over at National Catholic Register wrote a commentary in December 2020 which, I am sad to say, fulfilled a fear which I had back in March 2020 when I wrote my own essay, Prudence in a Panic. That fear was that the majority of Catholics, lacking any sort of formation in the exact reasons for the Sunday Mass obligation, as well as a lack of knowledge of what constitutes the virtue of religion, would not recover their former attendance of Mass, if that attendance was driven by mere habit. As Fr. DeSouza called it, the Sunday Mass Obligation was a “casualty of 2020”, which ought to give us pause.
I have a feeling that the COVID-19 Pandemic is accelerating already existing spiritual and demographic trends. For the Catholic on the margins with a very superficial attachment to the Church, the retreat of the Church behind her doors threatens to erase completely her relevance to them. For the deeply committed and devout, the pandemic has caused both frustration at what is perceived to be spiritual tepidity on the part of the shepherds of the Church, and also deep hunger and renewed appreciation for the incarnational realities inherent in our faith. We should exploit this opportunity.
On the clerical side, the pandemic, like all crises, has unmasked both the heroic and the mediocre. In some places, Priests have nearly shut down their own parishes for all but the most basic ‘services’. In others, many attempts are being made, even slightly superstitious or hyperbolic ones, to reach the people. The zeal of many of our brothers in adverse circumstances has been an inspiration. On the other hand, what I find most unsettling is the lack of education among some of our younger clergy, as much I find complacency among the older ones. What I mean is the reaction to questions of the authority of the State in regard to the Church and divine worship, and questions regarding the moral permissibility of vaccines remotely derived from cell lines which are the result of abortion. Terms like “remote cooperation” and “material cooperation” are basic and fundamental concepts in moral theology, let alone bioethics. It is disheartening to see some clerics turn what should be a rather morally easy question into one that troubles consciences. Whether these vaccines are safe and effective, however, is another question entirely; but my vocation is not that of a scientist or a medical doctor. I leave it to others to answer these questions authoritatively for the common good.
The pandemic has hugely amplified class differences, both within my own flock, as well as those in many locales. There are some parishes in which the parishioners, especially if they are white collar professionals, have donated in excess of budgets planned for 2020. Those who do not have the luxury of working from home, or who were or are employed in small businesses, are in great distress. It is my sincere hope that dioceses will not fall into the trap of mistaking material health for spiritual health in their parishes; as assessments begin to drop, and dioceses already teetering on bankruptcy face financial ruin, it may be tempting to sell more of our patrimony than is strictly necessary. We all must pray for wisdom for our Bishops, that they may be surrounded with good counsel. At the same time, there is a continued exodus from the major cities into the suburbs or even further. People are on the move, and as I said, I think we will find this will accelerate already existing trends, rather than defy them.
To close, let me ask readers kindly to pray, as the time for renewing the site has come, which has a rather hefty price tag, especially as an individual who is not making any money of the site. Please pray for generous souls to assist, if God be pleased with the work and should wish it to continue. I especially extend to my brother Priests a warm Christmas greeting and wishes for God’s abundant blessings in your ministry. Let us pray without ceasing for our brothers who are struggling in any way. God bless you.
Just wanted to say, Father, that I think you share with many other members of clergy in “the West” a lack of zeal for the salvation of souls. This so-called pandemic is not particularly grave and the response by our clergy, especially bishops, to withhold sacraments because of fear of infection needs to be rethought immediately. I also want to say to you that my conscience was troubled without the input of clergy commentary regarding “remote cooperation” and “material cooperation” regarding vaccine development. But then my conscience has been troubled for a long time by the things done in the name of medical research and alleviation of human suffering. You might want to remember to add the other scale in weighing the moral acceptability of such things: the gravity of the circumstances that give rise to these choices. As I already noted above, I don’t think COVID-19 is a particularly grave threat to human health. It certainly is proving to be a grave threat to spiritual health and growth and to social cohesion.
Hi Lauri, a few things:
I do not favor withholding the sacraments due to fear of infection alone, especially in this case, where the pathogen in question is of such a low lethality that the vast majority of people recover from it, or even do not become seriously ill. In a previous article, I called this pandemic “the least lethal in human history.” I have explicitly in my own practice made myself available in hospitals and to the homebound, and I have found it to be far more common that my presence is refused out due to the fear of the average layperson, than due to any inaction of my own. So with respect, since you do not know what I do or do not do, or have done, since this pandemic began, I can only say that your comment is a manifestation of rash judgment based on ignorance.
Secondly, your ad hominem does not address the point I made, which is that remote material cooperation is a recognized category in moral theology which DOES in fact remove us from moral culpability. If someone were to show that Pfizer or Moderna or any other pharmaceutical company did produce their vaccine via direct and immediately immoral means, then we would have to revisit the moral question. However, abortion derived cell lines (which, if I am not mistaken, are not used by Pfizer or Moderna, but I think is used by AstroZeneca), are so remotely derived, that they make participation remote and material, rather than proximate and actual, on the part of the recipient. Fortunately, advances in technology are making abortion-derived cell lines less and less desirable across the board, and hopefully will stop entirely in the medium-term.
But on the whole, I agree with you. The pandemic is less a public health crisis than a psychological, spiritual and social crisis. I am in favor of the complete resumption of all sacramental work (which should never have ceased), although with prudent mitigation strategies to assuage, as far as possible, the fear of not a small number of people. Because, despite all our efforts to educate and to encourage, there is one thing against which we cannot vaccinate…fear. And that is probably the greatest spiritual pathogen of all. Blessings in your New Year. AR.
I’m sorry that some of my comments troubled and offended you, Father. Thank you for your ministry and service to your people.