"I am the door. By me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." - John 10:9 At every parish where I have had the pleasure of attending services, there is always a small group of people who find their way all the way up to the church building but don't actually attend services. At one parish it was a group of male gypsies who talked on cellphones or smoked cigarettes. At another it was a few Protestant husbands who, though they never attended services, opened the parish doors for people as they filed in. At yet another parish the men stood in the narthex and chatted until it was time to receive and then got in line. Latin or Greek Catholic, Eastern or Oriental Orthodox I see the same small throng of men standing next to the front door, but not standing, sitting, or kneeling amongst the people. If it were me (and I can only speak for myself here) this option would be an unsavory one. The boredom would be immediate. The anxiety of som...
Was this the Church’s decision or the local government? Disappointing in either case.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Eucharist may not be a source of any disease, I'm not sure we have that assurance about airborne pathogens in the Liturgy generally.
ReplyDeleteMaybe so, but the Church is the only hospital where we can receive the medicine of immortality, if it shuts down because people might catch a cold, it sends a rather shallow message, not mention it is a loss for all who are unable to attend liturgy and other sacred services as a result.
ReplyDeleteI can’t imagine any of the churches I’ve attended over the years would willingly shut down for such circumstances, perhaps not everyone would come, but the priests would never give up serving the liturgical cycle, especially during lent.
But again it’s not stated if this was their choice or a mandate. Either way it’s not my parish, but I sympathize for them.