Dear Excellencies,
Today is the feast of the Divine Mercy–at least, it is for bishops, priests, and a select few others who are able to receive Sacramental Communion today and gain the remission of sins and temporal punishment promised by Our Lord. For the rest of us faithful, it is still, I suppose, the feast of the Divine Mercy, just as last Sunday was technically Easter Sunday, and the week before that was technically Holy Week, even though we have been locked away in our respective upper rooms, even against our wills.
Today’s feast seems particularly pertinent to bishops (and to priests by extension) who are the instruments of God’s Mercy. How is it, then, that the bishops are become instead the instruments of His Justice? Though we must endure the just sufferings of this epidemic, on account of our sins, we are suffering much more from our bishops, who seem to have forgotten that the life of the soul is more important than the life of the body. “Fear not,” Our Lord says, “him who can destroy the body, but him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”
Have you known righteous anger? I thought I knew righteous anger at various times, such as when so-called Catholic members of Congress vote for abortion and show up unrepentant to receive Holy Communion. But I have never really known anger such as I feel at this moment. I must watch as my children, my wife, and my own sinful self are positively denied the sacraments week after week by our bishops on account of fear of him who can destroy only the body, and I am powerless to do anything about it but pray and trust that–somehow–God has permitted this for our good.
In my righteous anger, I conceive the following possible good which might come about: that God is permitting this to demonstrate the truth of the Catholic Faith, which endures in spite of the bishops’ response suppressing the ordinary means of salvation in order to preserve the life of the body. The bishops appear even to deny that the present crisis has a spiritual dimension. Our Holy Father assures us this COVID-19 trial is nature’s response to global warming. My own bishop assures us that this virus is merely an act of nature and not an act of God. Have we abandoned the truth that nothing happens without at least the permissive will of God?
Is it merely a coincidence that Pope Francis placed an idolatrous bowl to Pachamama on the altar above the very tomb of St. Peter last fall, and today, we faithful are utterly abandoned and without the sacraments? While better than nothing, watching Mass online is not the same as attending Mass. As a “solution” it seems to be very similar to what the Protestants are doing with their online worship services. There is something inauthentic about watching Mass online. While the Mass is still being said, we faithful must also endure something, watching remotely as clerics receive Our Lord sacramentally while we are unable to. I have always been skeptical about claims of “clericalism” with respect to active participation in the Mass, but I can think of no worse clericalism than one in which only clerics may receive Holy Communion to the exclusion of the faithful.
Is not the Lord’s command to bishops, “Feed my lambs…feed my sheep?”
To preempt the destruction of the body, the bishops have instead exposed our souls to the very real and eternal dangers of being without the sacraments–in some places without Confession and even Baptism.
I ask, has it ever been the mind of the Church to refuse baptism on account of an illness that some people might get? In place of baptism as we knew it, we are assured anyone can baptize in imminent danger of death. Do I understand correctly: Because of the danger of death from COVID-19, no one may be baptized but in danger of death? So which is it? Are we in danger of death or aren’t we?
Please, please, please! On this Divine Mercy Sunday, be merciful to us, reopen our churches, and give us the sacraments. Establish protocols for being as safe and respectful of our neighbor’s physical welfare as possible, but please feed the souls of my seven little lambs, my wife, and my poor self. We have become exceeding poor, indeed!
In our state, our Catholic governor has declared religious worship “essential,” overriding the county-level restrictions that made religious gatherings all but impossible. Yet, in my diocese, the bishop has sided with the county! What am I to conclude but that my own bishop must think that the needs of the body outweigh the needs of the soul? What must I think of my spiritual father?
Dear bishops! If you do not care for my soul, why should I listen to you? Can I not learn proper hygiene and social distancing from myriad other sources? What distinguishes you from the mere experts of the world, who are so frequently proven wrong? Is it not supposed to be faith–faith which fears not the death of the body but works for the life of the soul?
Excellencies, I am still your obedient son. I have respected your decrees to the best of my ability, as much as I am hurt and endangered by them. I remember my bishop daily in our family rosary–about the only spiritual weapon left to us. But for my part, may I be smitten with COVID-19 and even die, O Lord, provided I am not deprived of the sacraments!
Your son,
Michael J. Drake, Jr.
About the Featured Image
The featured image is of a painting of the Divine Mercy by Eugeniusz Kazimirowski. According to Wikipedia, it is in the public domain in the United States.
