Pandemic as Gods way of teaching us to empathise with the Amazonians?

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Emeraldlady

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It occurred to me today seeing some of the same people expressing loss and longing at the thought of not having access to the Sacraments, were the same that waved away the Amazonians same desire a few months ago during the Synod.

Back then there was a distinct air of that’s their problem. Let them have spiritual communions etc.

When we come out the other side of this, perhaps we will have a new care for the people of the Amazon?
 
I didn’t see the Amazon Synod as a scandal. I was one of those people who understood the Church was attempting to responding to the needs of the people in a particular region with Evangelical Ministries coming in offering those needs.

But I wrote somewhere else on here, that I don’t know when the next recession is but it is going to be a doozy. The reason I write that is because I think a lot of the Western World will be humbled. Y2K and the Great Recession changed the dynamics of this country. Well, the next recession will only widen the gap between rich and poor with a lot of people who were middle class becoming working class.

My mom and dad are boomers, but they didn’t live the craziness of the Seventies. Both my siblings were born in that period with me being born in 81. I think a lot of what is going on, from my experience in Finance, is a lot of that generation and the following generation choosing short-term gain at the expense of long term prosperity and our children’s future. Well, I’m almost see us in Old Testament times where there are the Faithful and the Faithless side by side. One proclaiming God and living a Godly life, the other Proclaiming wealth and riches.

Also, I would caution people to associate the Catholic Faith with any one political party. We as Catholics are the largest denominations and can be found in every continent. The whole Democrat, Republican dynamic only exists in America. Having lived in London and traveled Europe, their politics are far different than ours and the two don’t translate.

So, I don’t have kids nor would I have kids but if I did have kids I would tell them:
  1. Go to an affordable state school that offers licenses in addition to a degree (CPA, CFP, LSCW, Paralegal, Nursing, Automechanic…etc)
  2. If you still don’t know what you want to do with your life, don’t go to college. Going to college to discover yourself is seventies talk. School is now an investment for employment. If you want to read books, you can always do that on your own.
  3. Aspire for middle class which to me means owning a house that is affordable in a community you plan to live in for the rest of your life. Only Fixed Rate Mortgages for no longer than twenty years. There is no such thing as house rich, if you have a home without a mortgage keep it without a mortgage. That means you’ll forever have a place to live.
  4. Tend your own garden. Meaning when you vote, vote State and Local. Get involved with your community to build it. Get to know your neighbors.
  5. There is no place like home. Keep travel to a minimum, because even within America cultures are so different you can get yourself in trouble by not staying close to home and what you know. The Grass is never greener on the other side.
That’s all the advice I would give my kids just from life experience. Because again, the problem with the Pandemic is not so much health but the response. So many companies are relying on debt, as well as countries, the reaction of no longer consuming by the public can mean a lot of hardship.

I hope everyone is fine out there. And let us all learn these lessons together.
 
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Yep should have been “No one is wanting to prevent the Amazonians from the sacraments”. But then again no one is trying to stop the Arizonians either.
 
Nobody wants to prevent the Amazonians from receiving the sacraments. But the synod was one scandal after another. In the end, it achieved nothing really.
I already appreciate the blessed sacrament. I don’t need coronavirus to teach me that. Maybe you should’t try to put a pandemic in terms of God trying to teach us a lesson and more in terms of it being a result of the fall that we suffer and die.
 
RepetantCatholic said:
But I wrote somewhere else on here, that I don’t know when the next recession is but it is going to be a doozy. The reason I write that is because I think a lot of the Western World will be humbled. Y2K and the Great Recession changed the dynamics of this country. Well, the next recession will only widen the gap between rich and poor with a lot of people who were middle class becoming working class.
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Western civilization has never had it so good. Until the industrial revolution the poverty level across the western world was about 90% . Up until about 100 years ago it was about 70% Now it is about about 13%. The next 100 years is going to be amazing. I plan on being here for most of them.
 
AdamP88 said:
Nobody wants to prevent the Amazonians from receiving the sacraments. But the synod was one scandal after another. In the end, it achieved nothing really.
I already appreciate the blessed sacrament. I don’t need coronavirus to teach me that. Maybe you should’t try to put a pandemic in terms of God trying to teach us a lesson and more in terms of it being a result of the fall that we suffer and die.
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I should have expanded the context of the OP. I’d just commented on the ‘Coronavirus is punishment for Pachamama’ thread to counter that way of looking at this event. Look at it as a lesson rather than a punishment.
 
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RepetantCatholic said:
I don’t know when the next recession is
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Probably now. After we’ve spent billions dealing with this virus. It will probably cause the economy to crash. It’s certainly brought Italy and Spain to a halt. We in Ireland are next. We’re preparing for the government to announce a full shutdown of all non-essential businesses and services on Monday. The military is preparing to assist the health service and the civil authorities.
 
I’m hoping we learn how to better care for the elderly and other at-risk members of our own communities.
 
In my little part of the world, some masses were cancelled and some were still on, so I got to go to mass tonight. This older priest gave a good homily. He basically said that pandemics were part of the human experience…he mentioned his parents and his generation struggling with Polio or Measles…those vaccines were developed in the 1950’s and 1960’s as I understand. Basically he said the world goes on, you pray, and you continue love God. Perhaps it is not any deeper than that.
 
phil3 said:
Yep should have been “No one is wanting to prevent the Amazonians from the sacraments”. But then again no one is trying to stop the Arizonians either.
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I thought perhaps a reference to a Western, John Wayne ?
 
Another thing I thought of…a good portion of Leviticus is about how to manage quarantines, especially with regards to leprosy.

Additionally, some of Jesus’ miracles had to do with curing lepers and returning them to regular society. There are significant spiritual lessons in these miracles. For example, the 10 lepers Jesus heals in Luke 17, and the fact that only one said thank you. Perhaps we should look to these healings for lessons and to find meaning with this corona virus.
 
phil3 said:
No one is wanting to prevent the Arizonians from the sacraments.
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However.there about 7,500 Catholics for each priest in Brazil. In the US, it is about 1 priest for every 4,000 people. And given that those Catholics who are far from any metropolitan area may see a priest once per year if that, there are a whole lot of folks who have no real access to the sacraments.
 
I agree. This is just a part of life in a fallen world. We will no doubt develop a vaccine in time and hopefully in a few months the crisis will have passed.
 
I think that major events like this are always an opportunity to learn empathy, compassion and understanding. I don’t think that is why they happen, but they do create the opportunity to exercise the empathy that, frankly, we should have every day.
 
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TMC said:
I think that major events like this are always an opportunity to learn empathy, compassion and understanding. I don’t think that is why they happen, but they do create the opportunity to exercise the empathy that, frankly, we should have every day.
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Yes…

Although not specifically with Amazonians, per se,
in this case of the complicated mess wrt CV-19
 
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