Pastor’s Corner — February 28th, 2021
Marriage Ministry Administrative Position
I’m happy to announce that we have posted a part time position to provide administrative support for Deacon Dave who is developing our marriage preparation and marriage ministry. For more details and to apply, please go to www.dioceseoflansing.org/employment
Vaccines and Returning to the Church
This past week I saw some parishioners who have come back to the Church for the first time since the pandemic began. Two of them came back because they felt called by the Lord to return to Church; others had received both doses of a vaccine and therefore believed they were safe enough to come back. It was SO good to see them at Mass, especially to receive Jesus, who longs so much to be one with us. God is good.
Coming out of pandemic mode is going to be difficult for some more than others. The pandemic, the lockdowns, the “pauses,” and the public safety protocols have taken a serious toll on people’s physical and mental health. Given the real fear of death that so many people have been grappling with in this pandemic, a return to “normal” after it is safe, is going to be psychologically difficult for some.
This week we’re placing the hymnals and songbooks back into the pews. While we aren’t going to start singing again just yet, we are already planning a process for when to return to praising our merciful Lord. I hope that the return of these books become a prophetic sign of fuller worship of God to come.
We are also exploring options for a phased return to normal as more of the front-line workers and those 65 years and older have an option to get vaccinated. (Full disclosure: By the time of publication, I will have received my second shot of my vaccine as a front-line worker.) As I said before, everyone should be able to make their own decision on getting a vaccine. The good news is that multiple doctors have told me that once the vulnerable population has the opportunity to be fully vaccinated -- regardless of whether or not they choose to do so -- the responsibility for utilizing protocols should shift to the individual. In other words, they can become optional. But of course, this will have to be a phased approach for people of varying level of comfort with coming back to “normal.”
One more thing. While it’s basically died down, I still hear of really good Catholics buying into unusual reasoning about cooperation with evil regarding the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. In another perceptive essay, Fr. Schneider argues that if getting one of these two vaccines is immoral, then it is also immoral to take Advil or Tylenol. Yet somehow, I don’t think Catholics will be protesting about the evils of taking pain medicine anytime soon. My point here is not to make light of testing on HEK-293 lines, but to simply show the inconsistent reasoning and false conclusions of those who say it’s immoral for us to use modern medicine and take vaccines.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Mathias