Loving thy neighbor means staying home
For much of the Christian world, today is Palm Sunday — a moment of triumph as Jesus is hailed upon his entry into Jerusalem, celebrated around the world by the coming together of the faithful as Holy Week begins.
Not this year.
No, in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic sparked by the novel coronavirus, the faithful in New Mexico will be at home, perhaps watching Mass or other services livestreaming on YouTube or on TV. Several area churches offered palms to the faithful through drive-up or curbside pickups to avoid human contact. That tradition can be adapted to pandemic rules.
For many, Palm Sunday will be just another day in isolation. They will walk the dogs or do other chores of living, either alone or with family also sheltering in place.
The loss of regular church services — done by most in New Mexico through choice, not government edict — is particularly painful during Lent, Holy Week and soon, Easter. This is the holiest time of the year for Christians, the culmination of the belief that Jesus Christ was crucified, died and rose from the dead to redeem sinners through every generation.
Yet, despite the sacrifice, most New
Mexico religious leaders are not defying common sense and science by gathering the faithful together, trusting in God to stop the virus from spreading. Unlike vainglorious pastors in Florida, Louisiana and Ohio, mega-churches in New Mexico are broadcasting services online and encouraging their faithful to stay home. Continuing to hold services risks the spread of a potentially fatal disease.
Faithful Catholics have accepted the word of their archbishop, John Wester, and will be staying at home this Holy Week. No processions to Chimayó and the healing santuario; no Holy Thursday, Good Friday or Easter Vigil gatherings. This is a sacrifice, a painful but necessary one.
Other faith groups also are giving up traditional practices — for the Jewish people, Passover starts on Wednesday. Instead of being celebrated with traditional seders in homes, there will be online conversations instead and fewer guests at the table for the eight days of the commemoration. Many Native tribes, who conduct both private and public spring ceremonials, are choosing to avoid gatherings. At San Felipe Pueblo, Gov. Anthony Ortiz has declared a state of emergency and canceled Easter Sunday church services along with traditional dances. He wrote in a note to pueblo members that, “We trust you agree on the importance of containing the situation and ensure the safety of all members by adhering to the new orders.”
Faithful from all traditions understand that if we love our neighbors, we want to protect them from contracting COVID-19. Large gatherings — whether in church or attending a concert — offer the virus an opportunity to spread. Hot spots of the outbreak have been traced to such events as funerals or revivals; with so many people not showing symptoms, it is impossible to know who might be contagious.
Wisely, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham left it to religious leaders to decide to shut down — although, had they not been sensible, we don’t doubt she would have been forceful in discouraging all large gatherings, regardless. However, there are constitutional questions to consider.
The First Amendment prohibits government from impacting the “free exercise of religion,” but like all rights, there must be balance. A churchgoer’s need to worship communally cannot be an excuse to make other people sick. So long as religious groups aren’t being singled out — only churches or mosques could not meet, for example — it seems to us that asking them to follow the same rules would not violate the Constitution. By making it voluntary, Lujan Grisham avoided the question. Elsewhere, we’re sure, there will be a lawsuit filed and, eventually, a court decision.
The bottom line is this: Individual religious beliefs are no excuse to harm other people. Whether the tradition is gathering for Mass and receiving Holy Communion, sitting around the Passover table with dozens of friends and relatives, or in New Mexico, participating in a Pueblo dance for Easter or a spring feast day, right now is not the time to congregate.
All people can exercise their faith — or not — at home, whether praying privately or watching services streamed on TV or social media. Wise religious leaders not only are encouraging folks to stay home and follow social-distancing guidelines — they also are improving virtual outreach so that people at home do not feel abandoned.
The faithful adapt. They endure. But what they seek to avoid is being selfish. Gathering people during a time of contagion is nothing but selfish. And selfishness, as every religion teaches, has no place where there is love.