By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
Christ offers the fact of salvation through the Catholic faith. This is a reality which guides us through the vicissitudes of history.
Changing circumstances through time and varying place by place since the Lord’s Passion, death, and Resurrection have included the eruptions of false cults and syncretist transmogrifications of the true faith, challenging Christians to recognize what is false and reject it for the sake of salvation in the truth alone.
The Lord’s command, “I am the Lord thy God. You shall not have false gods before me,” binds us to recognize when lies are mixed with truth and to keep the faith pure and without admixture of superstition and manmade cults.
Unlike the world, which changes like the theories of science, the faith alone remains as the sole connection to Christ the Savior. One cannot look to science or medicine, which can only delay the death of the body, to prevent both body and soul from being cast forever into Gehenna.
As opposed to the fact of faith we have the shifting theories of science. Some medical doctors change their advice from day to day. One particular doctor went from recommending no masks not be worn to virtually requiring their use universally, all within the space of three months.
Doctors and others recommended total shutdowns of work and school, apparently without considering the consequences. Those consequences are now upon us and they are devastating. The doctors don’t have to live with the results of their advice, while now millions of Americans struggle with joblessness, poverty, depression, and sometimes even suicide.
Doctors who opposed the “company line” were ignored and many still are. They are banned from YouTube and other forms of social media because they do not conform to the latest among a constantly changing series of officially designated responses.
One would be forgiven for suspecting that the motive here is not health, but in some instances social control. When public safety rests upon shifting opinion rather than fact, there is the potential for a cult. When people’s fears are exploited for manipulation, and risk is enabled by irresponsible advice, superstitions can run rampant.
Then there are the facts.
Some doctors, mayors, and governors sent elderly COVID-19 patients back into nursing homes, needlessly leading to thousands more deaths.
Some states are moving in the direction take already by Virginia, which will require face masks in public places. In those cases, under the necessity of feeding one’s family and taking other necessary steps for life and health, one must comply and wear a mask.
It is true that in some cases masks can prevent the spread of infection. They are certainly useful in at least diminishing hay fever when pollen is so prevalent at this time of year.
Is the mask a sacred garment of a false cult imposed by the state? Not necessarily. It certainly looks like some people love wearing them as a sort of scapular, donning them as they do even while driving or walking alone.
We do not attribute to any material object powers which belong to God alone, present as He is in the Holy Eucharist, with all the graces of salvation available for us. That is a fact.
The scapular is a sign of desire for the Lord and for salvation, something which medical garb can never symbolize. We rely on God alone for the salvation of our souls. Practicing our faith avails us of the fact of our salvation, which we rightly and humbly beg of God.
Medical advice and scientific theory must be distinguished from the fact of faith, as these theories are merely the latest and most reliable in a series of hypotheses about reality.
In one’s rejection of the superstitious aspects of a coronavirus cult, one might be made to feel a pariah. But this must be done only so as to remain Christian. Such eventualities are to be expected when the Lord Himself said we must carry a cross and “suffer for the sake of the Name.”
And so we rejoice for the honor of being proved faithful in suffering the opprobrium entailed by rejection of a false state religion — if it should come to that.
Catholics who did not regularly attend Sunday Mass prior to the advent of the coronavirus were most susceptible to the cult. The same is true of other Christians who were not regular churchgoers. They were not “inoculated” properly prior to the onslaught, we might say.
Aspects of this seeming cult which overlap with solid medicine and reason are certainly not incompatible with Christianity.
The Minnesota bishops took a significant action, setting a precedent of deciding themselves when people could return to church. This defiance led the state to allow measurably more people to attend Mass and other services.
And, in many cases, the same kind of public distancing is available in churches right now as there has been in the bars, homosexual swing clubs, and abortion clinics, which various governors have allowed to remain open.
Restaurants are currently opened in some localities, but, at last report, the District of Columbia will “allow” Mass for a maximum of 10 persons for the foreseeable future. In many cases only lawsuits will bring justice to end these inequities.
Also, churches have, in effect, offered the opportunity for social distancing for years with the decline in numbers of those attending Sunday Mass! Some of that decline is because enemies of the Church for years have wielded calumnies in an attempt to alienate people from the practice of their faith. Some claims about abuse — though much abuse has been real and tragic — have been unfair and untrue.
No one who is authentically Catholic is opposed to the truth when it comes to abuse and abusers and pursuing justice. Covering up crimes and criminals is in fact an anti-witness to the faith.
The many Catholics who are weak in faith have been scandalized. We can do something about that by strengthening the faith of those who are weak. We can do this while protecting those whose health is weak.
Also, no one who is authentically Catholic is opposed to cooperating with whatever measures are necessary to save lives. But this, however important it is to all of us, is not more necessary than practicing our faith on a regular basis. For us as Catholics, that means a return as soon as possible to physical attendance at Sunday Mass with the opportunity to receive the Holy Eucharist. if in a state of grace.
Thank you for reading.
Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
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