All Masses cancelled at my church

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I think those situations are a little different. They are examples of limiting the mass, but due to persecution or lack of priests etc…

the church has a history of increasing its dedication to mass, communal gatherings and reparations due to illnesses, disease or plague. The church has consistently showed that we should engage further in our faith and our commitment to each other and the sacrifice of the mass and make reparations when crisis like this occur.
 
ConcernedConvert said:
They are examples of limiting the mass, but due to persecution or lack of priests etc…
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In both cases, cancellations are due to the risk of people dying… remember that in the times of the plague, etc, we didn’t know about germs and how diseases spread.
 
And it’s probably not that they are all cancelled, right? They’re just not open to the public? Because priests still celebrate Mass every day, I believe.
 
MarthaSo said:
thanks I thought they had to get permission from the diocese or something since it is a Church, but if it’s a church inside a college they don’t? It’s a bit confusing to me. Anyway thank you for answering
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In this day of instant communication, I can’t imagine that such steps were taken without the full consent of the bishop.

We can’t change the fact that this sometimes deadly virus is spreading, but we can pray, practice good hygiene, eat only healthy food (no junk), stay away from crowds, and pray more.

This, too, shall pass.

We just need to . . . Trust in the Lord.
 
Jen95 said:
And it’s probably not that they are all cancelled, right? They’re just not open to the public? Because priests still celebrate Mass every day, I believe.
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They don’t have to celebrate every day and, even if they do, they may not be doing it at the chapel.
 
Bataar said:
The Seattle Archdiocese has suspended all public masses in the Archdiocese.
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I saw that too this AM. I wonder what will happen with ordination in the Seattle Archdiocese this year. I would suppose they would still have them but limit who is in attendance to just the families of those being ordained?
 
I wonder if the disciples, after Jesus’ resurrection, stopped breaking bread together when one of them was very sick or contagious or cast out those with leprosy who came to break bread with them. i guess it’s different because in those days the crowds were smaller maybe, but scripture speaks of crowds following Jesus in the thousands so maybe not.

I “accidentally” out of habit went to shake the priests hands the other day and he lip curled (i think it was reflex) and put his hand to his chest. I heaved in a sigh of shock and sincerely apologized profusely. He said it was ok.

awkward.
 
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Martha do you understand the idea of protecting elderly and immuno-compromised people? They are particularly at risk from the spread of this illness.
Why would responsible organizations and individuals object to that?
 
Hi Jen. Yes, I understand. I was wondering about the disciples and what they would have done. Would they say that death is not worse than not receiving the Lord.
 
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MarthaSo said:
I was wondering about the disciples and what they would have done. Would they say that death is not worse than not receiving the Lord.
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the disciples had no understanding of how disease is passed from person to person. If they did, they would not put the Mass before the good of people.
 
I don’t know, in those days they knew not to go near lepers because you could be infected. They may not have had in-depth understanding of how a disease is passed but a general one, especially in seeing people, in those days get sick with colds for example and then another person got sick in their circle. You think they didn’t know that being in close proximity to someone with a cold wouldn’t get them sick because they didn’t know how diseases were transmitted. I don’t know.
 
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I mean, it’s not forever that people won’t be able to attend Mass. Potentially a few weeks, or at worst a few months? It’s not what we want, but it’s the responsible thing.
 
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MarthaSo said:
I don’t know, in those days they knew not to go near lepers because you could be infected
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true, when you can visibly see someone who is sick. Why would they stop services for what they would see as ‘healthy’ people? Because they wouldn’t have known that diseases have an incubation period. That’s what all the closings are really about. It’s an attempt to limit exposure to non-symptomatic carriers.
 
Earlier, it was the usual no physical contact during sign of peace, no Eucharist on the tongue, no Precious Blood (which was already suspended during flu season); no soup & stations, no meetings, no Lenten activities, etc. Now Cardinal Sean O’Malley put the hammer down. No more masses until further notice. Will have to watch on Catholic TV (or EWTN). A quick Google seems to be most (if not all Archdioceses). It’s only temporary. Dispensations have been given and I checked with my personal priest, and even meat can be eaten on Fridays if there is no other option.
 
Given that ordinations are usually in June, it is a bit premature to guess whether or not things will have improved.

Kirkland is next to Seattle. A retirement/care facility there has had 15 deaths of the elderly there; and some appeared to have no symptoms and died within hours of contracting the virus; the facility has 180 workers and as of yesterday 70 were considered to have contracted the virus.

In short, it is highly contagious. As of yesterday, only the other people in the state had died of the virus. but in that one setting, it was going through like greased lightening. Every one of the 70 workers have been in contact with other people, who have been in contact with still other people…
 
It does not appear that the disciples were ever exposed to a disease as almost violently contagious as this one is.

but to follow up on your question, those who care for the elderly (as in Kirkland, Washington) and those who care for the sick -such as those who care for those people hospitalized with this virus - do put their lives on the line each and every day the go to work.
 
Yes, many synagogues, including mine, are closed for the time being in accord with the Jewish principle of pikuach nefesh, which states that when a human life is in danger, virtually all other religious laws no longer apply. Further, based on Hebrew Scripture verses, humanity was meant to live by the Law, not die by the Law.
 
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