Today we celebrate the birthday of the Church, Pentecost. It is a day when we are reminded of how we are called by the Holy Spirit to come together as members of the Body of Christ. It should be a day of unity because despite race, ethnicity, sex, social status, or even health status by the power of the Holy Spirit we come together as Christians and remember that we have been chosen by Christ to follow him. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and He flows through us and to all of those who we encounter in our lives.
But in some parishes today staring at us in the face as we walked towards the doors to leave the vestibule and enter the main body of the Church was not a reminder of unity, but disunity. The world is divided, our country is divided, the Church as a whole is divided, and now our "little" parishes, the places that were our safe haven; our refuge amidst the chaos, are divided. And now we cannot even go "Home" to escape the division. My heart broke in a million pieces today, and it was the first time in my life I wanted to walk out of Mass, and not come back. But then I looked at the tabernacle and knew I that I could never leave Him because I love Him too much. The pain I felt was like a knife cutting through my flesh, and it took everything for me not to break down in tears this morning. And I couldn't help but think of the words that Simon Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, to Whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)
When we look at a sign that reads, "the vaccinated group to the left," and "the unvaccinated group to the right," how can this type of wording not be considered divisive? We are literally and physically drawing a line down the middle of our churches based on one's health. How can we do this in God's house? How can we do this before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? Why can we not choose to use a different way of wording if we must sit a specific way based on Archdiocesan guidelines?
Christ never separated the lepers from the others in the crowd even though society was doing just that at the time. Jesus went against the tide because He knew it was wrong. Division of "us" versus "them" is not respect of human dignity and respect of the human person. We are all children of God, and especially in our houses of worship we should all be respected despite our vaccination status. Division like this hurts people, and causes everlasting damage.
If someone chose to get the vaccine or made the decision to not get the vaccine why is that anyone's business? When did medical information become public knowledge? Is HIPAA now irrelevant too? Whether someone is vaccinated or unvaccinated it is a personal decision and a personal matter. It is not my business or anyone else's business to know the medical status of a fellow parishioner. When we sit on either the right or the left side of the Church based on our vaccination status we are telling everyone our private medical information. When we received flu vaccinations did we share such information at Mass? Why now everyone needs to know our vaccination status? Medical information should not have to be public knowledge.
Since when did the Church have the priority of enforcing CDC protocols, and putting second the salvation of souls? Because we know the CDC must be going by the "science," right, so we're following the "science" in our parishes?
What about parish Churches discussing the other "science," like the "science" of how a human life begins at fertilization, or the "science" of how the chromosomes "XY" defines a biological male, and the chromosomes "XX" define a biological female? Or the "science" of how birth control is dangerous for women or the "science" of how contraception can cause difficulties during pregnancy for both mother and unborn baby? What about the "science" of abortion and how it kills an unborn baby within the womb? The only "science" that matters it seems is the "science" of wearing masks, social distancing, and making sure to get the vaccine.
Was it not just several weeks ago that we were told that vaccinated people could still spread the virus? Now all of a sudden miraculously the virus no longer can go from vaccinated people to unvaccinated people. Those who are vaccinated no longer need to wear masks or social distance when literally a short time ago the opposite was being told to us by the CDC. And it is because the "fact-checkers" say so. Who pray tell are these "fact-checkers" anyway?
None of this makes any sense at all. Why are we doing things that are not backed by actual science? And actual data? Why is our Church so complicit on this matter? This is no longer about saving souls, but bowing down to the CDC, and their constantly changing demands. But our Church is supposed to care about us, what happened to the salvation of souls?
We talk about martyrdom, so let's go. Is no one willing to rise up and risk his or her life anymore for the truth? Do we no longer care enough to fight for the truth? The early Christians died for their faith. Are any of us willing to risk our own lives and face death to defend our Christian faith? I'm much more afraid to answer to God one day for not laying down my life and fighting for the truth than to face the CDC and their constantly changing guidelines.
In states such as Florida and Texas they do not have to wear masks or social distance in Churches, and have not been doing so officially for multiple months now, and yet do we hear left and right that the virus is spreading rapidly in these states? Shouldn't there be an incredible increase in cases according to what we have been told about the spreading of the virus? Wake up folks, we're being lied to about EVERYTHING. We have no idea what is the truth anymore, let's face it. The only truth I know and believe is that Jesus Christ died, rose from the dead, and saved me from my sins to that I can have eternal salvation in Heaven if I choose it. Why are we placing our trust in mammon and not in God? Have we not rendered to Caesar enough?
The vaccine whether you get it or not is not going to save you or damn you to hell. It has nothing to do with the state of one's soul. We should be more concerned with the state of our own souls and the souls of those around us instead of making this vaccine into our mini god. This vaccine is not the savior of the world no matter how much the CDC wants us to believe that it is going to save us all. And we need to stop treating the vaccine like a modern day golden calf.
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