Priests not celebrating mass like before and the matter of money

"It was very difficult for us priests, very difficult, very difficult. In fact some of us ended up in tears. It is very difficult for us not to be allowed to celebrate mass in public."

Rev. Fr. Aris Sison, parish priest of John Paul II church in Quezon City, quoted in a news story

The good priest Rev. Fr. Aris Sison said the words "very difficult" four times in two sentences, affirming that nothing beats repetition for emphasi s.

He made that statement at weekend before this Holy Week, the "high point" of the Catholic Church's liturgical life throughout the year.

Fr. Sison said he'd miss most some rituals that would place the priest in Jesus Christ’ s frame of experience, such as the washing of feet and veneration of the cross. They've been scrapped by the Vatican's Congregation for the Divine Word and the Discipline

Lost aura, mysticism Li ve-st r eami ng of the mass, with the priest in the church or chapel and the devotee in his home, has reduced it to the physical-distance exercise civil authorities want it to be. Aura or mysticism of hearing mass in God's house of worship, with other members of the church (which we are told comprise the church) is somehow lost.

It is tough enough to rein in one's thoughts for a half hour or so in a mass inside the church. Tougher still to go through mass at home, when one slouches on the sofa in one's pajama or home pants with all the distractions of a house. The church still has to provide dress code and conduct of a mass at home. Nothing of the touch of holiness one feels as one goes out the church after mass.

Not talked about

Fr. Aris and Filipino media tackled only the impact of the modified church rituals on priests, and only on part of it. Not talked about in public is the effect of the pandemic on the economic life of priests, parishes, dioceses and archdiocese.

It is apparently due to the parishioners' devotion to their religion and respect for the clergy that they think it would be unseemly, even gross, to raise the issue of money.

of the Sacraments because of the coronavirus world-wide scour ge.

Lawyer's FB post

This post appeared last April 5 on a Cebu lawyer's Facebook wall: "These churches live-streaming their masses should publicize their Paypal, Paymaya and Gcash accounts." The post drew a mix of snide comments about the "sibot" (the net used for offertory collection), photos of nuns packing goods for the low-wage earners, disclosures of others how they are helping their church, monastery or priests and a gentle chiding such as this from a court associate justice: "If you do not believe in God and our church, just respect us who believe...the least you can do if you truly are a human rights advocate!"

The Catholic Church abroad, particularly in the United States and parts of Europe, have already raised the issue of communities where budgets of their priests and bishops and parishes and dioceses are being "punctured" and "hard-hit" by the pandemic.

High-profile stories

At least two high-profile stories---one, a Catholic News Service article in "Crux" (the publication's catchphrase (Taking the Catholic Pulse) and the other, in a Chicago Tribune news feature publicized on March 20 the problem of priests whose offertory collections were stopped by the "shelter in place" and "stay at home" quarantine orders. They pushed the problem up front, along with the economic hardships caused by Covoid-19 in other sectors.

The Cebu lawyer's suggestion was seen as offensive. Yet it was pragmatic, if only some of those who commented on his post resisted the chance to ridicule the “sibot” collection in churches.

Not the local culture

Our culture on faith though cannot be as open and candid as the view in other countries about money and the clergy. It's a sensitive issue in the local community anytime.

But here's the situation: Our priests and bishops have not yet reached out for help, not openly, not from the public. Many people though assume or expect that the local archdiocese has enough resources to keep the parishes and their staffs going.

Besides, the clergy is not in the category of people who'd starve if their parishioners stopped going to church and offering money (individually, in small amounts but collectively, in many parishes, they pile up to large sums of cash). Priests and bishops cannot be ranked with the "no-work-no-pay, no-dailyincome, no-eat earners."

Measuring success

Meantime, food for the soul is being fed digitally in virtual masses and food subsidy is being distributed by government bureaucr at s.

As in most other things, one wouldn't know how to measure success or failure in both fronts, not until all this is over.