First off I am starting this article off by making note that I am not anti-vaccines. Whether someone gets a vaccine or does not get a vaccine that is a personal decision for an individual, and honestly it is not my business. It is only of lately with the Covid-19 vaccines that all of a sudden someone’s vaccine status is apparently for the world to know. When we would get flu vaccines did we run to our houses of worship to announce our new health information to our priests, pastors, and fellow parishioners? Were we told to sit on one side or the other based on whether we received the flu vaccine or did not receive it? Not that I can recall.
How many of us are aware that the influenza virus according to the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have documented statistically that there are three million to five million cases of severe illness and 291,000 to 646,000 deaths estimated over the course of one year? Should we not also care about the spreading of the flu? The numbers of those affected may not be as much as the coronavirus, but it is still a fairly large number of individuals world-wide affected by a virus, and it has been affecting people year after year. Why does no one care if someone gets the flu vaccine or even asks about it? The influenza virus is also a serious illness that can result in death.
But with the coronavirus we have begun using fear-mongering tactics to harass people until we control them and force them to get it. Or do we try our best to shame them and do everything we can to take away their human dignity until they feel coerced into getting a vaccine that they may honestly have valid concerns about getting for themselves? And now the same techniques are even being used on those who already received the vaccine telling them they need to now be prepared to get a booster shot, whether they want to get it or not. There are those who have serious concerns about all of this, and we need as their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to respect their legitimate concerns.
And why is it the same folks who are all about “my body, my choice” when it comes to abortion cannot accept the same line being used when an individual decides for himself or herself whether they will get the vaccine or not get the vaccine? The vaccine actually will affect a person’s own body because the vaccine is made to enter into the muscle tissue which last time I checked scientifically has the same amount of chromosomes as the person getting the vaccine, and that muscle tissue is actually and really a part of his or her own body. So now we are saying a person cannot decide what he or she injects into his or her own body, and the government should make the decision for us or even our fellow congregants, priests, and pastors? Where will it end?
"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." -Ronald Reagan
I have spoken to both Catholics and Protestants alike and the vaccines seem to be getting more talk time than Christ and the Gospels. Since when did a vaccine become more important than listening to the truth. We believe or at least we are supposed to believe that Christ needs to be the center of our lives, and our faith, hope, and confidence should be placed in Him, and only Him. For only He is the way, the truth, and the life. A vaccine may or may not be able to save our mortal bodies, but it cannot save our immortal souls. Christ and Christ alone is Who saves us, not the coronavirus vaccine.
We can be concerned about our health as we should be in this world, but honestly because I know that I am a part of this world, but that I do not belong to this world I am more concerned about the matter of heaven. I want to get to heaven, that is my ultimate goal. Choosing to receive the vaccine or not receive the vaccine does not guarantee that anyone will be able to spend eternity with Christ in Paradise. It does not save one's soul or damn one to hell. It is a vaccine, not God.
Do we honestly believe harassing others and bullying others to get a vaccine and separating them from the rest of the crowd is Christ-like? When we are nasty to those who have received the vaccine and judge them for their decision is that Christ-like? Do we really and truly believe Christ condones this kind of behavior, and that it brings Him joy to see that it has been brought into His Church? Did Christ separate the lepers from the non-lepers? Or the paralytic, the lame, or the blind from the rest of the crowd? Where in scripture does it speak of Jesus separating His followers based on their health information?
If Christ returned today how would He feel about the fact that some of his churches have physical and actual lines drawn down the middle separating the vaccinated from the unvaccinated, especially when there is no science to back up that this even drastically makes a difference in protecting people from the Coronavirus? I have friends in Florida and Texas and their churches are not dividing their parishioners into two groups, and actually are not even mandating their parishioners wear masks or social distance whether they have received the vaccine or have not yet received the vaccine. And low and behold there does not exist statistics saying that because folks are not separated by vaccinated and unvaccinated in the pews that the cases are increasing.
The CDC changes weekly their guidelines, but God never changes. His Word is always true. What are we doing? Why are we paying more mind to Caesar than to God? Haven't we rendered unto Caesar enough for the past more than a year now? We want our churches back with the reverence and respect that is due to the Lord, and our Almighty God alone. NOTHING for us Catholics should be more important than the miracle that is happening before us during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that it cannot wait until after the Son of God comes to us in Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity as True God and true man resurrected and glorified, and we have received Him. Do we really believe in the Real Presence, that He is actually with us? If we believe that GOD is truly present (I am talking about GOD here, really GOD!) how can we willingly choose to not make Him a priority? Perhaps, we need to reflect on such a question, "Do we really and truly believe GOD comes to us in the form of simple bread and wine by the power of the Holy Spirit beheld at the hands of the priest during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass"?
“Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's. One would like to add: Give unto man things which are man's; give man his freedom and personality, his rights and religion". - Pope Pius XII
How can we tell people to come back to Church when in some cases they are literally and physically returning to a house divided and the gospel of Covid? What happened to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What happened to teaching the truth? What happened to saving souls?
Why are we worshiping a vaccine? We are placing our first and foremost priority onto a vaccine instead of God, and this is both infuriating and outrageous. The vaccine has become our modern day golden-calf. The vaccine matters more than even God it seems, and we prefer to talk about it rather than talk about Him even in many of our houses of worship. This is absolutely unacceptable! I would hope that most of us are sick and tired of it after more than a year now. We should want God back as the center in our churches. And maybe for some Catholic parishes that even could mean moving the tabernacle back to the center if it helps to re-focus Catholics on what truly matters in this world, CHRIST!
Let us pray and offer sacrifices for our Church, especially for our members of the Christian clergy.
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