Don Bosco and the Cholera Epidemic of 1854

During the cholera epidemic in Turin in 1854 in which thousands died, Don Bosco formed his boys into teams to carry the sick to hospital and the dead to mortuaries. He urged his boys to trust in God, wear masks at all times and wash their hands in vinegar.

And if they ran out of vinegar while out helping others, they were on strict orders to come straight back to the oratory, touching no one and interacting with no one.

Moral of the story: Trust in God, but if you run out of vinegar, God isn't going to help you through miraculous means. God gave you vinegar, use what God gave you.

Mind you, this order came from a man who is recorded to have performed miracles during his lifetime.

You and I, we haven't performed any miracles. It is presumptuous for us to assume God will intervene miraculously to save our miserable lives if we choose to act like idiots.

Also, for those upset at the suspension of public Masses: "Bed sheets became so scarce that Don Bosco’s mother, Margaret, stripped the cloths of the altars in church to provide clean sheets for the sick." So, yeah, physical needs can pre-empt spiritual needs, which is why Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, thereby attending to Lazarus' physical needs, but ALSO temporarily suspending Lazarus' entry into the afterlife. Jesus did the same to Tabitha, the little girl He raised from the dead, so that wasn't a one-off occurrence. Physical needs often pre-empt spiritual needs, which is why we can go to the grocery store, but we cannot currently go to Mass.

Damien of Molokai chose to personally enter the leper colony, but he didn't bring others with him, nor did he endanger others. In fact, when he needed to make confession, he was willing to shout out his sins to the priest on board a coastal ship, so that all the shipboard crew could hear, rather than risk infecting others. 

Charles Borromeo did, indeed, minister to the sick during an outbreak of bubonic plague in his city. He felt the plague was an example of God's wrath poured out on the city, a wrath that only spiritual humility and abasement would end. Even so, while he led processions of the faithful to receive ashes on their foreheads, he also ordered them to stay at least a stick's length apart while in procession. He erected crosses in the piazzas so that those under quarantine could join in prayer from their windows. Does that sound like social distancing to you? It does to me.

But, the good saint's insistence on gatherings large groups of people together for spiritual ministration were not very effective in "appeasing God's wrath", for Milan lost about one-third of its population, which is about the same as the rest of Europe. That is, his spiritual processions and spiritual humility were not very effective in abating the plague. Don Bosco had a lot better luck appeasing God's wrath with his face masks and vinegar bottles than our friend Borromeo had. That either means Don Bosco was holier or that God's wrath is better appeased by correctly using the tools and the reason that God gave us.

So, yes, imitate the saints. Wash your hands, practice social distancing, don't interact with others if you haven't got PPE.

Rejoice, Jerusalem!

Many Catholics have been unhappy with various bishops. The bishops have suspended public Masses, restricted access to the Eucharist, made it very difficult to go to confession or get a child publicly baptized. Weddings are suspended, postponed or restricted to groups of less than 10 people. Funerals are likewise restricted, funeral Masses unsung.

The Catholics who have publicly expressed their unhappiness are doing so out of fear. They fear for their salvation, they fear dying unshriven, unsaved. Why did the bishops do these things? Are all of our bishops insane? Listen to the voices of those in battle. Hear what they have to say:

"Overfilled waiting rooms packed with people who are contagious. Patients waiting six hours to be seen. Others on stretchers waiting 50 to 60 hours for a bed. Doctors desperately trying to get more ventilators. That is what it’s like to be on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic at a public hospital in New York City, Dr. Rikki Lane, an emergency room doctor at the Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, said. 

“Our hospital has never, ever, ever seen anything like this,” said Lane, who has worked for more than 20 years at Elmhurst, a public hospital with 545 beds. 

Lane said the emergency department has been “overwhelmed” for about three weeks and the hospital is in desperate need of help as the coronavirus spreads across the city, which has become a fast-growing epicenter of the virus with more than 21,000 known cases and 281 deaths as of Thursday... 

“The need grows exponentially every single day,” she said. 

In the worst day that Elmhurst has seen so far, the virus claimed 13 lives in one day, which Lane said was "unprecedented." 

"All of this is unheard of," she said."

What was unheard of in our nation’s hospitals, that is what the bishops heard coming. They are not insane, rather, they are marshaling their forces for the final battle. I don’t mean the apocalypse, for this is not the end-times. I mean, they are marshaling their forces for the dying, for those who are on the door of death, for those mere steps away.

The bishops saw Death riding in from afar. These are men anointed by God, men accustomed to the sound of that hoofbeat, men familiar with the touch of Death’s hand. They know the journey to eternity can be made only with Sister Death as a companion, and they know many, many of the faithful are not properly prepared.

So, the bishops foresaw what was coming, and they prepared. They freed their anointed men from their normal duties. Public Masses were cancelled. Confessions, baptisms, weddings, even funerals, were curtailed. The bishops re-ordered their forces to defend the weakest members of the Church Militant. They prepared to send their troops, their priests, to accompany the weary, the frightened, the poor, the unprepared, the ones who would soon cross through the open door, the ones who would soon enter the open grave.

Yes, the bishops cancelled public Masses and public sacraments for the vast majority of us. Their preparations have, indeed, made it difficult for the rest of us to receive the sacraments. But for these who are approaching the ultimate poverty, the poverty that strips away all we have, that strips even our very bodies from our souls, for these very poorest of the poor, the dying, for these the bishops called forth their anointed, for these the bishops and their men assembled.

These men, these anointed, hear our confessions every day. They know our weaknesses better than you or I ever could. The bishops don't want their priests to die. They don't want their fellow bishops to die. They don’t want to die. But it doesn't matter what they want - they have a job to do, and as they do it, they will die.

They know this, but still, they come. Stripped of all other duties, prepared like a boxer, ready for the fight, they now go forth to bless, to comfort and to shrive the dying.  They will meet Death with us, and because of them, we will meet Death standing, humble in ourselves, but proud of the graces we have received from their hands, prepared for the journey, equipped with the Waybread of eternal life.

Yes, you are frightened. Yes, the bishops know your fear. But in your fear, respect those who run towards what you dread. Show them at least respect for that. Yes, the bishops have given the rest of us enormous dispensations, some bishops have even dispensed their flocks from the ancient Lenten Friday fast from meat. But remember: we have, almost all, been dispensed from our duties so the priests can attend to theirs. And if you think the bishops are going easier on their flock than they should, remember, Christ goes easier on us than we deserve.

Be grateful for these mercies.
Be thankful for these men.

Note:

My thanks to MrsJeffKantor, for contributing to this essay, "As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens man" Proverbs 27:17

Coronavirus, not Apocalypse

"With the Church bowing to government to shut down in the face of over-blown fear of a Chinese Communist created virus, could this be the end?"  This question is popping up in some circles on social media and it needs to be addressed. We can be absolutely certain this is NOT the Apocalypse, nor is it even approaching apocalyptic, precisely because there have been no serious restrictions on the Catholic Church or on Catholic liturgy.

Think about this historically. We are not under anything like the kind of persecution the early Church faced as bishops were led off to be sport for the wild beasts in the amphitheaters. In England, during the Protestant Reformation, Masses actually DID cease as priests were killed. In Japan, during the closing of the country between 1633 and 1853, priests were actively hunted down, tortured and killed, with literally no surviving priests in that country for over two centuries. The hidden Catholics in Japan had only the sacraments of baptism and marriage, nothing else, for that whole period.  The historical examples could be multiplied.

Right now, no one is hunting down and killing priests, there has been absolutely no reduction in the number of Masses being offered, nor has there been any restriction on priests to keep them from celebrating Mass. Not anywhere.

All that has happened is, there is a restriction on YOU being present and participating. That's all. The restriction is not absurd or driven by anger or hatred. It is logical, reasonable, and driven by Christian love for safeguarding each other.

Think about this as a bishop would, as a Catholic should. Coronavirus strikes the elderly and infirm the hardest. At least a plurality of priests, and arguably a majority of priests in many countries, are older. Many priests are not in great health. The bishops are cancelling Masses not just to protect laity from infecting and killing laity, but to keep laity from infecting and killing priests. Our staying home from the liturgy is not just an act of charity towards each other, it is an act of charity and protection towards our priests, the only men who can offer the sacrifice of the Mass.

They offer Mass for you whether you are there or not, but these self-same priests will also be called to the ICU beds of the severely ill and the dying to administer Anointing of the Sick, give the Apostolic Blessing (essentially, a plenary indulgence for the dying), and provide Viaticum. When - not if, but when - they, too, become infected, they won't know it for days, nor will anyone else. This infection is spread by air droplets. So, if Mass is offered publicly, as they distribute the Eucharist at Mass, you certainly may put them within an aerosol of your exhaled coronavirus particles, but they might also do the same to you. Is it right that a priest distribute Eternal Life with his hands, but physical death with each breath? If you, as a parishioner, are excused from Mass when sick, how much more necessary that the priest, who distributes Jesus to the whole congregation, be afforded the same consideration?

The sacrifice of the Mass is being offered as freely right now as it has ever been, and much more freely than it has been at many, many points and places in the history of the world. By cancelling public Masses, the bishops protect both the shepherds and the sheep, they give both sheep and shepherds an opportunity to show charity towards the other. You shelter your priest by avoiding public gatherings that might put his health, as well as the health of others, at risk. Think on that. Do you honestly think the graces of the Mass he continues to privately offer on the world's behalf, on your behalf, will not flow to you?

Catholics cry out for the apocalypse because devout Catholics often want to be martyrs. They are always upset when they can't find anyone to murder them. The coronavirus is not the apocalypse, not by any stretch. We are important enough for Jesus to save us, but what makes us important enough to be part of the final apocalypse? Nothing.

It is Lent. Make a spiritual sacrifice of yourself. Self-isolate. Save the world by saving the health workers, both medical personnel and priests. Shelter your priests by obeying your bishop, who is trying to save you both. Then, perhaps, when we meet our own, personal apocalypse, we might finally be worthy of it.

UPDATE:
St. Louis Archbishop John Glennon (for whom St. Louis' Cardinal Glennon Hospital is named) cancelled all public Masses during the Spanish Flu. As a result, St. Louis had one of the lowest death rates in the country. 

Love in the Time of Coranovirus

A lot of people are complaining about the bishops who are cancelling public Masses, dispensing from Mass, closing down all large congregations out of concern that the chain of coronavirus contagion needs to be broken. Those who disagree with the bishops' decisions argue that the Mass is central to Catholic life, that we cannot live without the Eucharist, that God will certainly protect His own.

The bishops who are suspending the celebration of public Mass are in the right.
Everyone criticizing them are in the wrong.
This is not H1N1 - it's much worse.
This is not about the carriers, it's about the crowds.
But most important, this is about the liturgy, and the work liturgical and sacramental grace is meant to do in us.

CCC 1070: “In the New Testament the word "liturgy" refers not only to the celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and to active charity”

It is not charitable to spread illness. If the liturgy does not create in us the sense to protect the vulnerable, then we have not received the graces the liturgy is meant to provide. Rome has closed her churches to protect the vulnerable. The Mass is still celebrated, but not publicly. Do you honestly imagine the graces will not flow to you?

Look, I get it. Mass is important. The Eucharist is the center of the existence of the universe. And it's not like I have never taken a risk to attend Mass. Several years ago, when we attended traditionalist Latin Mass, there was a threat on the life of the pastor. The individual in question promised to come in during the middle of Sunday morning Mass and shoot the pastor dead. The pastor dispensed all the traddies from attending Mass that Sunday, and not a single trad protested that the priest was being a wimp. Not a single one. This, despite the fact that the targeted priest did not tell them to simply attend a Novus Ordo Mass at any of the dozen nearby churches, but rather dispensed them from attending any Mass anywhere at all.

On the Sunday in question, I took my family, my wife and all four children, all of them under the age of 10 at the time, to the Mass where the gunman had promised to show up. That was the Mass we always attended. I didn't go out of my way to enter harm's way, and I didn't go out of my way to avoid it. We went to Mass as we did every Sunday. And when we got there, what did we see?

The church was almost empty. We were the only family with children there. A small smattering of men had sprinkled themselves through the church, a security guard with a pistol stood at the door, and ... that was it. I was chuckling to myself all during Mass about the wonderful bravery of trad parishioners and how clearly they showed what they were willing to sacrifice for their priest and their Latin Mass.

Obviously, the gunman never showed up (as I figured he wouldn't).

Now, you might say that I deliberately put my family in harm's way, and how is this different than coronavirus? The difference is, I put MY family at risk, not someone else's, not people I don't even know. The difference is, the risk of that blowhard showing up was a hell of a lot lower than the risk  that large congregations will transmit a virus and kill old people I never met.

The difference is, you can stare down a gunman, change his mind, assist in his salvation, while a virus is a barely animate chain of RNA that has no soul to save.

The Three Elements to Success

You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

Many people complain about being held down by various prejudices. No one is held down by prejudice. In reality, there are only three skills  necessary to advance in any endeavor. If you have those three skills, you will advance. If you do not, you will not.

1) Competence in the task at hand.
2) The ability to create in others the impression of your competence in the task,
3) The ability to maintain in others the impression of your competence in the task.

To advance, all three must be accomplished. There are no other criteria.

Notice, the first piece is the only piece that doesn't necessarily require social skills. But, notice also that the first piece, by itself, is not sufficient to advance your career. If you are competent, but unable to either create or maintain in others an impression of competence, you will not advance. Many people are technically competent in an area, but do not possess, or are not interested in acquiring, the social skills necessary to excel in the other two tasks. Insofar as they do not, they will not advance.

Now, if you are not competent, but you are good at creating the impression of competence, you will achieve temporary success. But, if you cannot maintain that impression of competence, you won't advance far. Indeed, people who are only good at the second piece have a very specific name: they are confidence men, con men. They aren't actually competent, nor can they maintain the impression of competence for very long, but they are excellent at creating the impression of competence.

Of course, some would reply, it is possible to advance without having any apparent skills at all. Politicians such as Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Barack Obama are frequently brought forth as examples. But, this is only a misunderstanding of what the job of politics requires. Any job that is built entirely around social skills, as politics is, combines the first principle with the last two.

Just as it is a Napoleonic actor's job to create the impression that the actor is truly Napoleon, so it is the politician's job to create the impression that s/he is competent in some area. That is, the only skill set required is the skill to create and maintain a specific impression in the minds of the hearer. The job requires competence in maintaining the impression: that is the competency they bring to the table. THAT is the task at hand.  Politics is theater. Many jobs in many companies and/or roles do not require a skill set above that of any competent actor. We may grouse that X got and keeps his job because s/he is the company president's child, and that is certainly often true, but that child keeps the job because the job requirements are being met: the job was created for, and is maintained for, the company president's son.

Similarly, the children of famous politician's get and keep high-paying jobs because - no matter what the job title may say - their job is to maintain a good relationship with someone in power, bring in clients based on the parents' influence, etc. As long as that competence holds, they will stay employed, and at a much higher salary than you or I. We can't create or maintain the impression that we are close to someone who wields levers of power. They can.

So, when you hear a woman throwing a femper tantrum (feminist whining about how they aren't advancing in their career because The Man is holding them down), what you are really listening to is the whine of someone incompetent in at least one of those three skills. The same is true when you hear the cry of "Nepotism!", "Racism!", "Sexism!", "The company doesn't appreciate me!" or anything similar. It is the cry of someone who lacks skill in one of the three areas above.