One of the seven main “themes” of Catholic Social Teaching is what could be called “Rights and Responsibilities.” It is the idea that each human person has certain rights that should be protected and we need to fight against anything does not respect those rights. However, people seem quick to demand their rights and then want to STOP there. But Catholic Social Teaching calls us further into RESPONSIBILITY. Not only do we have rights but we, as members of society, also have a RESPONSIBILITY to the common good. To look to defend the rights of OTHERS (not just our own), and to recognize that at times we may need to make some personal sacrifices for the good of others and good of all.
As we have gone through this experience of global pandemic, there is a lot of tension surging up about how we navigate all this well and certainly no shortage of opinions! 😊 And it has highlighted this tension between rights and responsibilities, both as individuals and as a Church. On the one hand, there is the right to religious freedom – to be able to gather in prayer and worship of our God (and the responsibility to pray for our country and the world). It certainly doesn’t sit well with me and makes me uncomfortable when I read in the news about areas (cities or states), that allow other public gatherings (such as public protests (and, unfortunately, riots)), or opening of restaurants or businesses but at the same moment deny gathering at churches. It exposes the attitude that some hold in our culture that religion is “non-essential” (an attitude we must be very careful does not creep into our own personal mindset!) Worship of God each week (whether Saturday night or Sunday), is a Divine commandment by God (keep holy the sabbath). And if we cannot make it to public Mass for whatever reason (pandemic or otherwise), we still have to do SOMETHING (whether attend Livestream or at least take some intentional time to pray over the Scripture readings and offer worship to God and pray for others). Or when I read on the news of some places outlawing “singing” in churches, it smacks uncomfortably of totalitarian government control over our faith.
On the other hand, we as a Church have a RESPONSIBILITY to the Common Good! That we affirm the dignity of every human life, and must always fight to protect that including and especially the most vulnerable. Thus taking precautions to protect not just our own health but the health of others as well!
It seems some of the polarizing opinions that exist out there seem to exist in this tension. Our right and duty and faith to worship God and to not have that taken away, while also our responsibility towards the common good. And perhaps rather than vilifying each other and accusing each other of various things (i.e. calling one group selfish and flippant not caring about the health of others or on the other hand accusing others of being brainwashed by the government or uncritical in their thinking, simply being made puppets of the government), maybe we should realize this difficult tension we’re trying to navigate and enter into dialogue and conversation in love, finding our shared values and how to navigate those well, taking into account both our rights AND our responsibilities. It’s a bumpy road as we navigate this and we won’t do this perfectly, but let us continue to ground ourselves in prayer, and in love, to shape and inform our God-given reason and critical thinking.
Peace,
-Fr. Kevin
PS: FYI know that we have been exploring and taking steps towards offering Livestream long-term. However, so I don’t have to set up my phone and tripod at each daily Mass, beginning in JULY we will only livestream Iowa Falls Masses.
So Livestream Mass schedule here will be: Sundays 8:00am; Monday 5:30pm; Wednesday 8:30am. If you would like other Livestream Masses during the week, of course you can ALWAYS Livestream Mass from Blessed Sacrament in Waterloo (where Fr. Tony Kruse is pastor): https://blessedsacramentwaterloo.org/blesac-live
