Extreme Unction During Coronavirus (Last Rites)

In this time of pestilence (the Coronavirus aka Covid19), Catholics have been left wondering the best course of action and whether or not the sacraments will be available for their spiritual path. In the past several days, I have addressed many of the sacraments of the Church and I did a thorough explanation of whether or not particular sacraments ought to be offered in a general sense. If you haven't already, I recommend (of course I do) you take a look at those if you would like.

In terms of one's spiritual journey, no time could be more important than right before death. Our Catholic faith teaches that God is merciful and that a repentant sinner can be heaven-bound even if he confesses his sins at the last possible opportunity. Of course, there are conditions. It has to be a legitimate confession and contrition and determination to avoid those sins in the future. Also, according to our faith, depending on one's spiritual growth, upon death a person may require some purgation, or cleansing, of his soul which takes place in Purgatory.

In order to make the mercy of God as available as possible, one of the sacraments of the Church is extreme unction, also known as last rites. These involve the sacrament of penance wherein a dying person confesses his sins, prayers said for the person's soul, anointing of that person, and finally the reception of Holy Eucharist. The term "extreme unction" comes from the fact that unction is another word for the anointing oil, and it is "extreme" as in it is at one extreme (the end) of someone's life.

In the case of the dying person, if the Eucharist is their last on Earth, it goes by the name "viaticum" which comes from the Latin for "provision for the journey", which is exactly what it is. It is seen as the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ administered to a dying person which will accompany him into his life with Jesus Christ in heaven.

A person can theoretically receive the sacrament of last rites more than once, however, correctly understood, the sacrament is not meant to be generalized for people who are not in danger of death but are instead ill. The sacrament can be used for people who are mortally wounded (such as in battle), scheduled to be executed, or who are terminally ill and their death is imminent.

So, should the last rites be made available for the faithful during the outbreak of a viral contagion? I believe, if at all possible, that it should be. A person's eternal soul is something of great value. Eternity is forever and we cannot risk to have someone perish without the sacrament of confession. On top of that, they receive many graces and blessings from the ceremony of the last rites.

I believe there are many precautions a priest can take to protect himself while administering this most precious sacrament to a dying person. First of all, it is really only between the priest and the dying person. There does not need to be a large crowd surrounding the priest while he performs the ceremony. So people should maintain a safe distance away from the priest while he is giving the sacrament.

Secondly, the priest can use some personal safety procedures such as using a mask and/or gloves. Although this may not be ideal, given the circumstances, I believe it warranted. Plus, the efficaciousness of the sacrament is not affected by the presence of gloves or a mask. Therefore, there is no good reason to forgo these things.

Unless someone can bring up a valid reason as to why this should be allowed to occur, I believe every provision should be made to accommodate people in this extremely important time in their lives. With correct procedure, most pitfalls can be avoided, in my opinion.

I have been listening to an audio series on St. Charles Borromeo during an outbreak of the plague in the 1570s. He showed extraordinary courage in providing the sacraments to those afflicted by the plague at that time. He showed no regard for his own bodily safety and put himself at risk so that others could partake most fully in the grace that comes from Christ's sacrifice.

To illustrate the heroic virtue of St. Charles and his followers, in a book there is a powerful example of a man wishing to partake of Viaticum prior to death and what a priest did to make this a reality. Here is the excerpt (from the book Life of Saint Charles Borromeo
By John Peter Giussano, Aeterna Press):

A noble action which occurred at this time is worthy of record. The dead bodies carried out from the hospital of St. Gregory during the night were thrown into a public burying-ground adjoining, called the Foppone, in order to be ready for interment the following morning. On one occasion a poor wretch, not quite dead, had been cast out with the rest amidst a heap of putrefying bodies. Early in the morning the priest of St. Gregory's was passing that way to take the Holy Viaticum to some dying persons. At the sound of the bell, the poor creature raised himself upon his knees amidst the heaps of corpses, and turning towards the priest, exclaimed, "0 my father, for the love of God suffer me to receive the Holy Sacrament once more!" The priest did not hesitate for a moment but hastened to give the poor man the consolation he so ardently desired. After receiving his Saviour he laid himself down again, and a few minutes later he was called away with every reason to hope for a favourable judgment from Him with Whom he had united himself on earth. This action edifying in the dying man for his longing for the Bread of Angels, and in the priest for his charity amid so many plague-stricken corpses, was told from mouth to mouth and thought worthy of record by St. Charles himself in his little book called "A Remembrance for his Beloved People." 

To hear the full story, please go here and there is a multi-part series on Youtube.

Thank you for joining me with my exploration of this topic. Please feel free to add a comment below, it would really help me out. If you completely disagree, that's fine! Discussion is welcome. God bless.

Morality of Price Gouging from a Catholic Perspective

There has been a lot of discussion recently about the morality of price gouging. I mean it's not really a discussion as such. Pretty much everyone is on the same page. Price gouging is highly immoral and should definitely be illegal. Even people who disagree on most other areas of morality are united in their opposition to this phenomenon. But is price gouging always immoral? Can it possibly be defended?

Well I'm about to try. I am one of the few people who is actually in favor of price gouging, and I will explain why. As mentioned, this is a very emotional issue. We imagine poor, innocent people just trying their best to be safe during something like this pandemic only to have greedy, ruthless business owners take advantage of them to make a quick buck. It seems totally disgusting and obscene. How dare these companies, or sometimes individual hoarders, take advantage of people in a time of crisis like this one - i.e. during the Coronavirus Covid19 situation.

That's how price gouging is presented. But I want to just step back and look at it from a different angle, one, that I believe, represents logic and reason, as opposed to emotion.

First, it is important to understand how our capitalist system works vis-a-vis pricing. Many people falsely believe that the price of goods and services is a very simple proposition. Perhaps prices are determined by the cost to produce something + some fixed markup to arrive at a final price. Of course, this system cannot work because who will define all the variables? Who defines how much to pay individuals involved in the production of a good for example? Do we pay everyone the same amount? How do we determine which activities in the economy take precedence? I.e. do we need 1000 tons of iron and 100 tons of bronze? Or is it 100 tons of iron and 1000 tons of bronze?

The Soviet Union attempted to set the price of all goods and services in the economy. They literally drafted up an enormous document, or series of documents, which gave the exact price for various things. I seem to remember there were something like 3 million individual items on the list, each with a particular price. What was the result of this? Well, it was a total disaster. Many products were vastly overproduced while for others there was a massive shortage. No matter how much they tweaked the list, they could not get things right. It could not be centrally planned.

Well if that's all true, how ARE prices determined in our modern-day society. Essentially they are determined the variables of supply and demand. Most people have heard of this concept. Where the two lines intersect, that is the most effective price in the market. It's as simple as that. If one prices above the equilibrium point, they will overproduce and undersell. If they price below the equilibrium point, there will shortages. The further below the equilibrium point the price actually is, the more shortage there will be.

It's really that simple. Prices aren't inherent in a particular item. There's a joke about selling ice to an eskimo. It's a joke because it would seem nearly impossible to sell ice to an eskimo when there are millions of tons of ice all around him. Yet, in some places, ice sells for a very premium price. It's the same situation for all kinds of items.

Back to the supply-demand graph. If, all of a sudden, the demand for a particular item shoots up, then according to the graph, the price should also increase. If the price does not increase, the demand will be far greater than the supply and there will be a serious shortage. Prices must adjust or this will always happen.

This is precisely what we are seeing unfolding now during this pandemic. A few companies tried to sell highly sought-after items for a higher price. People reacted very strongly and in some places, the government made it illegal to increase prices during a crisis. They labelled it price gouging. In actual fact, it was not gouging, but reacting to the market. And the very predictable reaction was that there was a massive shortage of many items. Do people think this is preferable?

That is not a rhetorical question. I wonder: if people were presented with the following situation, how would they react?

There are 1500 units of hand sanitizer available and 1000 people want them. The normal price is $3 per unit.

Would you rather the company:

A) Continue offering the product for $3 per unit and thus the first 100 customers buy an average of 15 units each, and leave 900 customers with nothing.

B) Increase the price to $10 per unit. Few people would buy more than 2 units because of the very high price, plus they would not be able to resell them for a profit on the black market. Therefore, with everyone buying 1 or 2, most or all people would receive hand sanitizer.

Most people presented with this true-life scenario would refuse to answer the question. They would simply bemoan the fact that anyone would buy more than 2 units. They would say people should share or care more about others, etc. There would be a lot of sentimentality and emotional appeals. But unfortunately that is not the reality of the situation.

They would either respond by saying that or just creating some alternate reality where production of these goods just magically increases or people are more generous or whatever the case may be. But again, they are not dealing with reality, they are dealing with ideals.

Limiting Quantities
Another response I've heard from many people is the idea that companies should simply limit the number of units each person can purchase. Many companies have used this approach. But there are several problems with this.

1) There are many things people can do to get around quantity limits. One individual can revisit the same store multiple times throughout the day. Perhaps on one visit he could go to a particular cashier and then on another visit, go to a different person. Or he could use self-checkout. Also, he could visit multiple locations, etc.

2) Another issue is that by limiting the price of a good, you can never increase the attractiveness of a particular market. For example, right now home delivery is very popular especially for things such as groceries. Companies are offering a lot of money and premiums to get people to work for them delivering groceries and to do food delivery. The demand went up and the higher price for labour is attracting more workers, which is a good thing.

In the case of essential goods, let's go back to the hand sanitizer situation. At the normal price, there is no incentive for companies to increase production or for other companies that do not normally manufacture hand sanitizers to enter the market. However, if the profit potential increased dramatically, many new companies would emerge specifically to fill the demand. This is simply what happens and there are many examples of this.

Also, if a particular good is available in a distant area, perhaps another city, province, state, or coutry. Normally there is no incentive to transport a particular good over a very long distance. However, at the higher price, people are willing to travel far to sell their goods.

The list goes on as to the advantages. What we know for certain is that without allowing prices to increase as they naturally do, no one is better off.

Prices Eventually Drop
The mechanisms I have described are only temporary. Yes, at the beginning, highly sought-after goods increase dramatically in price, which is a good thing, because it signals to the market that a lot of a particular good is needed. So, companies get on the bandwagon to produce as much as possible. A term you will frequently hear is that profits convey information. High profits indicate to others that they should enter the market, that there is a lot of opportunity there.

Because so many new entities are entering the market, the supply dramatically goes up. Then what happens? You guessed it, the price drops. That way, the price goes down and the supply goes up. Isn't this exactly what people wanted in the first place?

We have to let the market work. If we do, eventually we get enough supply and people in general are better off. The price of particular goods is already determined by the market. By artificially keeping prices too high or too low, you are creating a sub-optimal scenario. In a time of crisis, the market needs to work its magic more than ever to ensure people get what they need.

Price "gouging" is simply a pejorative term used to shame companies for simply listening to the market, which they do at all times for all other products. Somehow though when the market indicates prices should increase, they should suddenly stop listening? That makes no sense. To me, not only are price increases moral from a Catholic perspective, they are obligatory. Not listening to the market may score you brownie points from economically-uneducated Do-Gooders, but it hurts the majority of people. One should use logic and reason in this situation, not emotion. Although it may seem unseemly for a company to increase prices on essential goods during a crisis, in the long-run, everyone is better off because of it.

I encourage you to post any comments you may have below!

Catholic Communion During Coronavirus: Revisited

A few days ago, I wrote an article concerning the reception of communion in Catholic churches during this time of pandemic associated with Covid19 and Coronavirus. I just wanted to post some updates and tweaks in my stance on this. It may evolve further as time goes on but I wanted to just take a moment to offer some clarification on it.

Many of my Catholic brethren have expressed disagreement with dioceses around the world banning the sacraments altogether. I have since looked into the ideas of some people concerning making Mass available while also addressing concerns around the pandemic. I believe some of these ideas were rather innovative, just as I mentioned some innovative ideas surrounding the sacrament of reconciliation.

Sunday Obligation
One of my concerns was that by making Mass available, the bishop would be creating an obligation to attend Mass under the pain of mortal sin. A proponent of offering Mass said the dispensation to attend Mass could be continued while not having an outright ban. People could choose for themselves if they would like to go.

People mentioned that civil authorities had not banned other activities such as grocery store shopping and therefore, why should churches be shut down. In other words, "If I can go get a mini fridge at Canadian Tire, why can't I receive Jesus Christ in the Eucharist?" This is a valid point. My rejoinder to this line of reasoning is that Canadian Tire is optional whereas Mass is ordinarily not. This seems to be addressed by making Mass optional as it were.

I do still wonder about the risk of this. I mean I also wonder about the risk of going grocery shopping. Just because one risky activity is allowed does not mean that all risky activities should be allowed. I think people have different tolerance levels when it comes to risk. I am personally very risk-averse in this pandemic. I do not like to even go outside for a walk. I become very nervous about it. On the other hand, other people are casually going to the store without a worry in the world. I wonder if people who are very risk averse would have no qualms about missing Mass if it were not obligatory or would some still feel "pressured" to attend despite their discomfort. To ignore people who feel this way, I believe, would be somewhat cruel.

Packed Churches
Another concern I had was imaging normal crowds of people attending Mass during this outbreak. Most places can now not have more than 10 people in a particular area and we are obliged to be at least 6 feet apart. This is based on expert advice. So when I imagine a church with Sunday attendance, I wonder how this could possibly work given these guidelines. Again there may be innovative solutions to solve this. For example, if you had a church like our basilica in St. John's Newfoundland, you could have one person (or people who live together) per section and every other section (or 2) would be blocked off. There would be a maximum number of attendees during a particular Mass.

Another option would be to have a Mass outside the church with the altar being under some kind of canopy. The faithful could park outside as they would in a drive-in theatre.

Reception of Communion
There has been some discussion about how one would go about receiving communion in such a pandemic. Many suggestions have been made. I am not sure if I am convinced by any of them. Some say that reception on the tongue is much safer than reception on the hand. However, in this time, I am not sure how either is "safe". This is one that would require some exploration. Some have suggested the priest "sanitize" his hands after each time he gives communion. Is this possible? I am not sure. Will it work? Again, I am not sure.


Attitude
I may be wrong, but I am afraid some may be using this as an opportunity to compare their faith and regliousness to that of others in an uncharitable way. "I advocate lots of Masses regardless of the risk, therefore I am more serious about my faith!" I think exposing people to a high degree of risk is not charitable at all, but the opposite. There is a difference between prudence and heroic virtue. I'm not saying that those advocating a cavalier attitude are more virtuous, but people willing to risk themselves may be displaying virtue. For example, going into a dangerous area to offer comfort, or if one were a priest, to offer the sacraments, could be a sign of great love and charity. Simply demanding that others put themselves at risk is not charitable.

An Example
I have been listening to a very amazing audio series on Youtube about St. Charles Borromeo and the plague. He displayed extraordinary virtue by putting himself at risk for the sake of his flock. He truly displayed great heroic virtue. He cared nothing for preserving his own life but only about the eternal salvation of his spiritual children. Many followed his example and ventured into the plague-striken areas of Milan to administer the sacraments with little regard to their own well-being. Miraculously, his followers who visited countless sick and destitute did not themselves contract the dreaded illness. It reminds me of Jesus Christ who said those who try to save their lives will lose it but those who give their lives for the Kingdom of God will gain it.

Thoughts
Overall I think this situation requires balance. Prudence means doing what is reasonable. Even in the time of the plague in the time of St. Charles, most Masses and the sacraments were cancelled. Were they completely stopped? Probably not, but even then there were measures taken to ensure the safety of Catholics. If safety can be ensured and people are given choices, I think the sacraments can be offered in limited ways as opposed to being outright banned.

Open to Ideas
Please feel free to contribute to this complex topic. I am open to reasonable ideas and am only advocating what I believe to be the best approach. Thank you for reading!

Holy Orders During the Coronavirus (Covid19)

This is the fourth blog in this 7-part series on the sacraments during a pandemic, specifically during this Coronavirus pandemic. We've already explored confession, the Eucharist, and matrimony. There are four sacraments left to go. Today we explore Holy Orders.

Holy Orders are the means by which men become deacons, priests, and bishops within the Catholic Church, and it must be in that order. These are the three types of ordained men in the Church and although some men have different titles, such as Monsignor, Archbishop, Nuncio, or even Pope, they are all still one of the three main types.

Jesus Christ and Saint Paul recommend men to remain celibate and to seek after the things of Our Lord. Jesus Christ tells those who can, to give up marriage and follow him. Although marriage is considered a good and a sacrament, and thus a path to salvation, receiving holy orders and becoming a priest is considered a higher good in the Church.

It is also important to note that the sacraments come through priests who act as Alter Christi meaning Jesus Christ acts through the priest. Therefore, it not the priest as a fallen individual who effects the sacraments but Jesus Christ from whom all sacraments flow. But because Jesus Christ effects the sacraments through the priests, priests are absolutely essential in the life of the Church.

As mentioned earlier, the sacraments come from the Sacrifice on Calvary which is made present at the altar during each Mass. But the particular means by which the sacraments come to be efficacious is through the priest. Without priests, there are no sacraments. Their importance cannot be understated.

Does this absolute necessity of having priests for the sacraments and thus to continue the Church on earth specifically mean ordinations must occur continuously even in the face of threats? I think we must take a prudent view of this. As mentioned in a previous post about matrimony, although ordination is a good and one of the highest goods, it is not absolute essentially that they be carried out at all times. According to ---, there are currently 414,582 priests in the world. Obviously this isn't a static number and is probably an estimate, although a very precise one. This particular statistic was created by Georgetown University. I'm not sure the exact method used to acquire such a precise number, but I suppose each diocese reports the number of priests, and then each country's conference of bishops compiles these and send this information to a central repository. Of course, religious orders would also do this. I can imagine a high amount of accuracy in this area.

In any event, it also notes that the number of priests is in decline overall. I am not sure the current trend but the number has gone from 419,728 in 1970 to 414,582 in 2017. Although these numbers are quite comparable, it is important to note that the number of people on earth, as well as the number of Catholics, in that same time frame has almost exactly doubled. Therefore, the number of priests per Catholic is half of what it used to be.

Having said all of this, and given the importance of priests overall, the urgency of immediately ordaining priests during an ongoing pandemic, seems minimal. Priestly ordinations should be large and festive events involving hundreds or thousands of people from the Catholic community. It is an edifying event which really shows the faith of the people and in particular of these men who follow this call from God. In a time of pandemic, very few people would likely attend. It would become an almost private event. The joy and splendor of what is taking place would be minimized.

Of course, theologically speaking, even if no one was there except the bishop to administer the sacrament, it would still be equally efficacious. I just believe it would lack much in the way of solemnity and importance within the community. On top of this, it could create negative feelings within the Catholic community and the region as a whole. The Catholic community may regret not being able to attend an ordination or feel they are being asked to put themselves at risk in order to do so. The community may perceive the actions of the Church as being callous and uncaring towards individuals. Obviously we do not do things for the approval of society at large which accepts many evils. But the Church must always be a beacon of light and hope, not of scandal.

Overall, in my humble opinion, ordinations to the priesthood ought not take place when most people are quarantined or self-isolating due to a pandemic such as Covid19. Please provide your feedback and comments below! Join me tomorrow as I discuss my thoughts on another sacrament!

Catholic Marriage During Coronavirus

Catholic Marriage During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Holy Matrimony is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. It joins a man and a woman in a lifelong conjugal union for the purpose of procreation and the spiritual growth of each other. Marriage is considered a vocation in the Church and is a path to holiness. Many saints speak of the ability of marriage to sanctify people.

Catholics are told to enter marriage with the idea of given fully of themselves to their spouse. This means practicing mortification, patience, and various other physical and spiritual penances for the sake of the other. I feel men are particularly called to sacrifice themselves as Christ sacrificed himself for his body the Church. We cannot enter into marriage with the idea that we will be served by the other person and that all our desires must be fulfilled. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

As mentioned the Church holds up marriage as the highest ideal of intimate relationships between men and women. Jesus Christ changed it from a natural institution to a sacrament, meaning through marriage we receive Grace from God. Therefore, it is easy to see the high importance of marriage to Catholics.

With this in mind, would the Church allow a man and a woman to marry in our current world which is experiencing a massive, global pandemic?

The answer is quite frankly no. Marriage may be a great good, a holy sacrament, and a vocation but it is not essential to the spiritual life. Not marrying will not prevent a person from receiving God's grace or from becoming holy. Therefore, although marriage is a good, it is not a requirement.

Typical marriages go far beyond the bare minimum requirements for legality within the Church, which includes having a priest involved plus 2 witnesses. Indeed, for the most part, the bride and groom have 3-5 people standing for them on each side. The wedding reception involves hundreds of people usually. That's not to mention the dozens of workers.

During the Coronavirus (Covid19), a gathering such as this would probably be illegal at best, and probably quite immoral. Why? Because you are putting MANY people at risk. Many people in fact, far beyond the number of guests attending. If for example, there are 200 guests, and each of those guests interact with an average of 5 people outside the wedding in the following week, and each of THOSE 5 people interact with 5 more the week after, within 2 weeks from the wedding, there would be 5000 connections. If one or more of those people had come into contact with the virus, well you get the picture.

Therefore, in my opinion, it would be very imprudent to have a wedding during the Coronavirus. It is sad that many people have had to cancel their weddings during the early part of this wedding season due to this pandemic. But we must consider other people when making plans.

Catholic Communion During Coronavirus

Communion During Coronavirus (Covid19)

This is the second of 7 articles outlining how the Church ought to react vis-a-vis the sacraments during a time such as this, i.e. a worldwide pandemic. Should sacraments be offered? If so, how? What is the Church's responsibility and what is the most prudent way to act in these times.

Today we look at the Blessed Sacrament - i.e. the Eucharist i.e. Communion. Should communion be offered during this time?

First we must note the high importance that is placed on the Eucharist within the Church. The Catholic teaches that the Holy Eucharist is the true body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not believe it is a symbol, nor do we believe the Eucharist has only spiritual significance. We believe that besides appearance to our senses, the Eucharist is truly transformed during the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass.

So what is the Mass? Well the Mass is when this re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ takes place at the altar. The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the source from which all the sacraments flow which is why the Church calls the Eucharist the source and summit of the Christian life. Without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all the other sacraments would be ineffective and essentially not even exist.

So, needless to say, the Eucharist is of utmost importance when it comes to our faith. Therefore, if I advocate that at least one sacrament be offered the first would be the Eucharist. And since I already said that confession ought to be offered, although perhaps in innovative ways, I must automatically advocate for the offering of the Eucharist as well since it is uniquely the source and summit of our faith, right?

However, this is not necessarily the case. A few things must be considered. First of all, although the importance of the Eucharist cannot be understated, this does not necessarily mean that all must receive this sacrament on a regular basis. It is not a requirement for salvation that one receive the Eucharist every week. In fact, when we speak of our Sunday obligation, we do not mean that everyone is obligated to receive the Eucharist during the Mass on Sunday every week or else commit a grave sin. Rather, the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation refers only to attendance at Mass, i.e. participation. Participation does not necessarily mean partaking in communion.

In our modern Catholic world, one would be forgiven for believing that reception of Holy Communion is an absolute requirement for all attendees at Mass. At Mass nearly everyone receives the Eucharist every week. In fact, many do not realize that not doing this is even permissible. However, to even be allowed to receive the Eucharist, one must be a Catholic in the state of grace. Outside of this, no one is permitted.

As mentioned, the idea that communion is something all people must partake in at every Mass isn't something that has been universally held by all theologians and saints throughout history. In the olden days, when there was much less sin in the world, people had to be encouraged in a variety of ways to receive communion. The Church even made a rule stating that Catholics must receive at least once per year. Remember, this is a separate requirement from our requirement to attend Mass every single week at least.

There is an interesting history in the Catholic Encyclopedia which describes the frequently of reception of the Eucharist down through the ages. In the Early Church, some people participated in frequent reception, which others less so. The article, found here, describes how communion was received fairly frequently, perhaps once a week or more, up until the time of Charlemagne. In the middle ages, the articles describes how Communion became very infrequent. So much so that the 4th Lateran Council compelled the faithful, under threat of excommunication, to receive communion at least once per year.

The article describes how various religious orders and various saints received at different frequencies. Some as few as thrice a year, while others communicated much more often.

As we can see, reception of communion every week has not always been the norm and many holy saints were reluctant to frequently receive the Blessed Sacrament. On the other hand, many theologians recommended frequent reception including Thomas Aquinas. The Council of Trent speaks against very infrequent reception (specifically citing 3 times per year), but goes on to say whether communion ought to be received monthly, weekly, or daily will not be subject to a universal rule.

My point in going into all of this detail is basically to explain that while perhaps desirable, the reception of the Eucharist is not a mandatory action that must be undertaken weekly.

Given this fact, it would seem prudent that communion be limited or stopped during this time of pandemic if that means keeping people safe from a potentially very dangerous virus. Of course, our spiritual well-being is much more important that our physical well-being or safety. However, when possible, we must safeguard our bodies as well as our souls. We are not a dualistic religion, we believe in the importance of body and soul.

Finally, during these difficult times, we can remain a spiritual and Eucharistic people. We can watch the Mass on television and make a spiritual communion. Also many churches have once again been very innovative. Some have offered drive-in adoration. The monstrance (aka ostentorium) is on display either outside or behind a window, and people spend time before our Eucharistic Lord while maintaining a minimum distance.

Take care of one another during these difficult times and hopefully we will get back to full access to the Sacraments very soon. God Bless.

Confession During the Coronavirus

The Seven Sacraments During the time of the Coronavirus
Today's Topic: Confession

On Janaury 20, 2020, the United States had its first confirmed case of the coronavirus. This dreadful disease originated in China, many believe from consuming an unusual animal such as a bat. Of note, bat is a prohibited animal to eat in the Old Testament in books such as Deuteronomy and Leviticus.

So the first case came to the US in January, but it wasn't until mid-March that churches really started closing in the US and Canada. That's only a couple of weeks ago. From most places, it seems like a very long time since this measure was enacted, but it really hasn't been.

The big concern many Catholics have had during this time is the availability of the sacraments. That's why I have devoted the next 7 topics on dealing with these issues. I will go through each of the 7 sacraments and discuss the issues surrounding them and how I feel it is best to deal with the threat of this virus.

So on the topic of confession. Confession is of vital important to faithful Catholics. During a good confession, a penitent is forgiven of the eternal punishment due to mortal sin, which is eternal suffering in hell and separation from God in heaven.

As you can imagine, therefore, making this sacrament available is of utmost importance. In fact, it is more important than merely earthly considerations. If one were to understand the true gravity of something like hell, the risk of illness or even death would be minor in comparison.

Therefore in my perspective, confession should not be totally cancelled no matter how grave the threat of disease is. Therefore, during this time of coronavirus, I believe for the spiritual well-being of Catholics around the world, confession should be made available to those who need it.

Having said this does not remove the necessity to practice caution in how the sacrament is offered. Placing people in harm's way, by for example, having dozens of people wait in crowded lines to receive the sacrament, could put them in excess and unnecessary risk. This would be immoral. So what is the solution?

Thankfully many priests around the world have considered the risks and the necessity of having confession and have come up with very ingenious ways of offering reconciliation to parishioners. A priest in Maryland, Fr. Scott Holmer, of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church, was one of the first priests in the United States to offer confession in a sort of Drive Through fashion.

Parishioners wait in their car for the car ahead of them. Once the car ahead is done, they drive up and the priest is waiting. He is wearing a blindfold so that he can maintain the anonymity of the confessional. As this is optional, I assume the penitent could ask him to remove the covering. So the person confesses his sins and drives away after receiving absolution.

In this case, risk is minimized while offering an invaluable service to the people.

Some might ask why an in-person confession is required. Couldn't it be done over the phone or maybe even webcam? The answer is no. And I am personally glad of this fact. As we know in the Church often an exception will become the norm. Once something is allowed, even if discouraged, it tends to grow more and more. And I believe that would be very detrimental to the sacrament. It would become a lot less personal, a lot less close. It would become rather transactional, and "convenient". The purpose of confession is to receive forgiveness of sin which ultimately comes from Jesus Christ himself as the second person of the Trinity who acts within the priest who is an Alter Christus.

The closeness and proximity are integral parts of the confession which takes place and I believe they must be preserved. Part of the experience is being in the presence of the priest which is normally in a Church. There is a physical aspect to it because we are physical beings. It is similar to when Jesus Christ would forgive people of their sins in person.

One more point I would like to address is that of a mass confession. No, not a confession which occurs during the Sacrifice of the Mass, but a group confession of many people. It is officially called a general absolution.

The Code of Canon Law has this to say about General Absolution and its permitted use:

Can.  961 §1. Absolution cannot be imparted in a general manner to many penitents at once without previous individual confession unless:
1/ danger of death is imminent and there is insufficient time for the priest or priests to hear the confessions of the individual penitents;
2/ there is grave necessity, that is, when in view of the number of penitents, there are not enough confessors available to hear the confessions of individuals properly within a suitable period of time in such a way that the penitents are forced to be deprived for a long while of sacramental grace or holy communion through no fault of their own. Sufficient necessity is not considered to exist when confessors cannot be present due only to the large number of penitents such as can occur on some great feast or pilgrimage.

The only possible justification for general absolution during Coronavirus would be the second condition that priests would have insufficient time to hear the confession of a large number of people and that they would be deprived of the sacrament for an extended period of time. This would probably not work as a justification. The reason is that as of right now, it is not foreseen that all human interaction, even from a distance, will be completely prohibited. If, however, people were given 24 hours before all contact with others would be strictly forbidden, I could see the possibility of a general absolution being given.

It is important to note that it is not an absolute require that someone receive sacramental confession to receive absolution from their sins. A person having perfect contrition can be forgiven the eternal punishments due to sin by expressing sorrow directly to God. This is, however, premised on the idea that once given the opportunity, the person who received absolution in this manner, would avail of sacramental confession as soon as possible.

I hope this clarifies this question somewhat. If you would like add a comment or ask a question, please feel free to do so!