I have now attended two High Latin Masses. Both without wearing a mask. There are a few people who choose to wear masks there. But the majority of people don’t. The other benefit is that we have Holy Water! I’m having to remind my kids to bless themselves with the Holy Water. We have fallen out of habit.
I’m already getting sidetracked here. Today’s post is about masking in church. I have spent several months masking in church and two Sundays not. The problems I have with the masks is theological. It comes down to whether you believe in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist or not. Do you believe that Christ is truly there? Do you believe that He is the Healer?
If you believe that Christ is physically in the Eucharist and that He has the power to heal, then there is no reason to be afraid of catching any disease while receiving communion. Christ will not make you sick. In the Gospels Christ healed people by touching them, smearing spit and dirt on them and being touched. No one died or got sick because Jesus had a cold when he healed them from blindness by putting spit in their eyes.
When I am told to wear a mask in church to protect the priests it makes me think that priests are afraid of dying. Why are they afraid? The only thing that should concern them about dying is leaving unsaved people behind. I am a mother so I understand being afraid of leaving my children in this world alone. But I cannot be afraid of God. If I am afraid then I must make sure that I am in a state of grace.
Wearing a mask is putting a barrier between me and the people around me. It is putting a barrier between me and God. And then I must touch Jesus with my unclean hands. They may be germ free because of the hand sanitizer. But they are not blessed and made holy. Only the priests hands are blessed. But because of COVID we must use our hands to receive Jesus.
I have pondered mask wearing for many months now. And the more that I ponder the more extreme that I become. Masks hide our identity from others. God has made us all unique but we end up looking similar with masks on. I am ready to rebel against the masks. Are you?
onetuffmama 