{"id":4790,"date":"2020-03-19T06:59:28","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T11:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/doxaweb.blog\/?p=4790"},"modified":"2020-03-19T06:59:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T11:59:28","slug":"catholic-life-in-the-age-of-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doxaweb.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/19\/catholic-life-in-the-age-of-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic life in the age of coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img_0070\"Now that public Masses (that is, Masses with the lay faithful in attendance) have been cancelled throughout the United States, it\u2019s a good time to think through the wisdom of this decision. Here is an article that may help: Why Cancelling Public Masses is the Right Spiritual Decision for the Faithful<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>

… The crucial difference between the martyrs and the laity in the time of the coronavirus is this: we are not facing a decision to sacrifice ourselves; we are facing a decision which affects others. A single person may sacrifice themselves for the sake of a friend. They do not sacrifice their loved ones whom they are charged to defend, especially the weak under their protection.

Of course, I am not an epidemiologist, but the average layman has access to enough basic details about this virus to make a sound moral analysis. Consider what we know: this virus is highly fatal to the weakest among us; many experience only mild symptoms or may even be asymptomatic. This creates a perfect storm for accidental transmission of the virus, especially from the relatively young and healthy to the relatively elderly and\/or sick. No one can be completely sure that they will not pass the virus on to others. In fact, right now it appears that very many will get sick and most (or at least a significant number of) transmissions may indeed happen without the transmitter even being aware that they are sick.

It seems to me that the decision of our bishops to cancel public Masses needs to be seen particularly within this context. They are decidedly not <\/em>choosing a lower good over a higher good, i.e. preserving a particular set of individuals\u2019 bodily health over their spiritual health. Rather, the bishops are helping us care for the vulnerable whose lives are ours to protect.<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that public Masses (that is, Masses with the lay faithful in attendance) have been cancelled throughout the United States, it\u2019s a good time to think through the wisdom of this decision. Here is an article that may help: Why Cancelling Public Masses is the Right Spiritual Decision for the Faithful … The crucial difference […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,21,26,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eucharist","category-events","category-human-life","category-moral-life"],"yoast_head":"\nCatholic life in the age of coronavirus – doxaweb<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/doxaweb.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/19\/catholic-life-in-the-age-of-coronavirus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catholic life in the age of coronavirus – doxaweb\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Now that public Masses (that is, Masses with the lay faithful in attendance) have been cancelled throughout the United States, it\u2019s a good time to think through the wisdom of this decision. 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