South Carolina Masses reopening guidelines -- wow!

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CRM_Brother said:
Umm… as a Catholic in South Carolina who has contact with those making the decisions for the reopening guidelines, I have to say that the opening of this thread has been extremely misleading. There has been NO universal guidelines submitted by the Diocese of Charleston to the public. The guidelines which have been posted above are restricted to a single parish.
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Thanks for the charitable response. :roll_eyes: But nowhere did I suggest this pertains to the entire diocese and, in fact, the directives specify that it pertains to Corpus Christi parish.
 
Sorry, I was referring to the title of the thread and the intro into the first post only refers to the diocese as a whole. The only place in the guidelines where it mentions Corpus Christi is the qualification that the 25% restriction means 150 people. The post as a whole seems to be written as if these are the overarching requirements and the pastor is just clarifying what it means in this specific instance.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
But you can spiritually “go to Mass”. You can spiritually “receive communion”. You can make an act of perfect contrition and receive forgiveness of mortal sin. Our Lord does not confine His grace to “one way and one way only”. Where grace cannot be had one way, it can be had another way. I will grant that it is not the ex opere operato grace of the actual sacraments, but it is still grace, and perhaps Our Lord is pouring it out in abundance in the present crisis. ………… the life of faith can, if there is no other way, be lived spiritually in solitude. It’s not God’s plan for all people at all times, but in the here and now, for the duration, it may indeed be His plan.
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Thank you for this post HSD. It is so true, that we in the West and in this century have been so spoilt. It echoes what our parish priest said in his online Mass at the weekend, that Our Lord promised that where people are gathered in His name, He is there in their midst. As the priest said, we can be united with others all over the world, and not just through the internet. We are part of the Body of Christ and can be united in prayer at any time.

I hope I don’t offend or shock anyone by saying this but it seems to me that the relatively modern emphasis on receiving Holy Communion has led us to forget that God is not limited to the Sacraments. . Yes, we receive incredible graces from Holy Communion. But if we cannot receive, will God refuse to bless us? As Jesus said, what father wold give his son a stone when he asked for bread?
 
According to this count, there were about 8000 US daily deaths total, and about 1700 from Coronavirus on May 8.

Not one third
 
TMC said:
I don’t see the problem with making a “reservation.” The church can only accommodate so many people, and reservations seems a reasonable way to deal with that. We do it for restaurants, concerts and sporting events. What is the problem?
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  1. There are some out there who always come early to Mass and get their favorite Pew. They often go to daily Mass too. Everything in their life is well planned. God bless them.
  2. There are others who are torn by struggles… spiritual, financial, no ride, child issues, barely hanging onto the Catholic Faith. They may not have a computer or even a phone. Nothing in their life is well planned. They have temptations to stay away from Church that you and I don’t imagine.
Is there any doubt which group the Good Shepherd would prioritize?
 
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commenter said:
Is there any doubt which group the Good Shepherd would prioritize?
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And one would hope that the shepherds of these flocks will have the same considerations. What would you have them do? They can’t just have 200 people show up to a Mass that can only accommodate 50. Reservations seem like a sensible solution.
 
I just checked the website of our archdiocese (Los Angeles), which says the current lockdown with no public Masses will continue until May 15 (three days from now), to be extended as needed. I hope that when Masses do resume, the dispensation will remain in effect for those most vulnerable to the deadly effects of COVID-19, since I take care of my mother, who is in her nineties and recently suffered a stroke. Whatever our Archbishop Gomez and the Church leaders decide, I will do my best to abide by their instructions. I don’t make the rules, I just try to follow them.
 
TMC said:
And one would hope that the shepherds of these flocks will have the same considerations. What would you have them do? They can’t just have 200 people show up to a Mass that can only accommodate 50. Reservations seem like a sensible solution.
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I suppose one thing that could be done would be to allow only one reservation per person in a given time period to avoid the same people constantly reserving seats, but maybe it is being handled that way.
 
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Glennon_P said:
This got me thinking - the front doors on our parish church (early 1950s vintage) do not have a crash bar on them. Deadbolt only. When it’s locked, it’s locked both ways.

There are two other exit doors on the side of the vestibule and two more at the front of the church that all have crash bars on them, so you could lock them from the outside but still open them from the inside.
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Yes, many churches today have crash doors, unless they have some kind of historic door(s)
 
The problem with death figures is that there are 3 kinds:
1 Covid is cause of death on death certificate
2 Covid exacerbated pre existing other illness
3 Based on the usual pattern of deaths in NY City in most Aprils we project that of all those who died at home during this time the increase above the typical level is attributed to Covid unless proven to be non Covid.

My County claims only 1 above are counted. I personally would consider 2 above should also be counted.

But 3? Maybe maybe not.

The problem is when different jurisdictions use different reporting criteria the totals are not worth much
 
christofirst said:
I hope that when Masses do resume, the dispensation will remain in effect for those most vulnerable to the deadly effects of COVID-19, since I take care of my mother, who is in her nineties and recently suffered a stroke. Whatever our Archbishop Gomez and the Church leaders decide, I will do my best to abide by their instructions. I don’t make the rules, I just try to follow them.
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There’s no reason to think it won’t continue. I watched the Mass last Sunday streamed from the Salt Lake City cathedral and they had already resumed public Masses but there were only like 20 people in the church and the priest saying the Mass made a big announcement that the dispensation continued in effect for everyone who had any health concern for themself or someone who they were caring for. Also that they would be continuing to livestream for those who could not attend.
 
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CRM_Brother said:
Sorry, I was referring to the title of the thread and the intro into the first post only refers to the diocese as a whole. The only place in the guidelines where it mentions Corpus Christi is the qualification that the 25% restriction means 150 people. The post as a whole seems to be written as if these are the overarching requirements and the pastor is just clarifying what it means in this specific instance.
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I agree. The title alone is misleading, and opening words in the first post, which say, “This was shared with me by someone who lives in South Carolina. The diocesan-wide dispensation will remain in effect. I don’t disagree with these measures but WOW. Masses in my diocese are nowhere near resuming,” certainly give that impression.
 
Sounds like a good opportunity for the parish to fix that little security/fire safety issue. Lowes is still open.
 
Poet said:
We already have TSA agents shoving their fingers into people’s underwear in the name of ‘safety.
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Please cite a source for this claim.
Poet said:
What is the point of closing the cry room? Why isn’t this a place two or three more families can sit, each of them a pew or two apart?
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Poet said:
And there’s still that little issue that ‘our rights shall not be infringed,’ including the right to the free practice of our faith.
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Cry rooms are small, enclosed spaces.

Please, show me where one is forbidden to practice their Faith while wearing a facemask?
 
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In my experience, the Bishop does not have the luxury of cry room inspections right now. Just getting opened with standard rules is putting an enormous strain on parishes.
 
TheLittleLady said:
In my experience, the Bishop does not have the luxury of cry room inspections right now. Just getting opened with standard rules is putting an enormous strain on parishes.
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I think that this issue of multiple spaces (each of which would need to be sanitized after use) becomes an important issue in some churches. In one of my churches, we have been asked to sign up (rationing sign ups to once per month per person so that others might share access) and to refrain, if possible from using hte restrooms at church as sanitation must be done after each person uses the restroom, before it can be made accessible to others and we do not, at present, have the manpower available for constant re-cleaning.
 
Then just put a note on it to use the side doors. Another seemingly insurmountable crisis solved by Post-it!
 
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