A bad practice that pandemic abolished in Holy Masses
Artificial Light
In the modern world, lighting at night is a necessity. We have street lights and perimeter lights for safety and security on the road and in our homes. There are also decorative lights, neon signs and others. Apart from the moon’s light however, any illumination at night is unnatural and thus bound to have an impact on ecological systems. This was proven by several studies.
A team led by the University of Exeter brought together more than 100 studies and found "widespread" impacts of artificial night-time lighting on animals and plants. Changes to animals' bodies and behavior, especially hormone levels and patterns of waking and sleeping, were consistently found. The study shows that levels of melatonin (a hormone regulating sleep cycles) were reduced by exposure to artificial lighting at night in all animal species studied.
Nocturnal animals sleep during the day and are active at night. Light pollution radically alters their nighttime environment by turning night into day. Predators use light to hunt, and prey species use darkness as cover.
Previous studies have also shown night-time lighting has wide-ranging impacts from reducing pollination by insects to trees budding earlier in spring. It is thus recommended that night-time lighting be used only where it is needed. In effect, night light should be viewed as a pollutant.
A specific example of the effect of night time light is on fireflies. New research published in Insect Conservation and Diversity indicates that artificial light at night likely interferes with the courtship and mating of bioluminescent fireflies. For the study, investigators exposed courting pairs of fireflies to five colors of light at two intensities, and they recorded changes in the rate, brightness, and pattern of male advertisement flashes, as well as how often females responded.
All artificial light treatments significantly suppressed courtship activity, but bright amber light had the greatest impact on female receptivity. This suggests that artificial lights that are closest in color to firefly bioluminescence may be the most disruptive to firefly courtship.
Glare from artificial lights can also impact wetland habitats that are home to amphibians such as frogs and toads, whose nighttime croaking is part of the breeding ritual. Artificial lights disrupt this nocturnal activity, interfering with reproduction and reducing populations.
Sea turtles live in the ocean but hatch at night on the beach. Hatchlings find the sea by detecting the bright horizon over the ocean. Artificial lights draw them away from the ocean. In Florida alone, millions of hatchlings die this way every year.
So what can we do? First, turn off lights that aren't needed. If possible, make lights motion-activated. Next, put fixtures on lights to cover up bulbs and direct light where it is needed. A big contributor to attraction of light sources for most animals is seeing the actual bulb, as this could be mistaken as the moon or sun.
If there's one thing positive that Covid 19 has done, it's the abolition of scandalous practices of some priests in pre-pandemic Holy Masses. This came to my mind after I accidentally stumbled online an article I wrote in August 2019.
I am sharing here that article in the hope that should times return to normal (no matter how briefly) and Holy Masses can again be held without restraint, the practices will not return. Meanwhile, our pandemic Masses are more solemn.
The article:
HONESTLY, HOW do you feel when, during Mass, the priest asks you to look at the person (stranger or not) beside you and ask: Mahal mo ba ako? Mabango ba ako? Makasalanan ka ba? Naligo ka na ba? Etc.
This is widespread practice at least in Pampanga, making me wonder whether the Archdiocese of San Fernando had mandated or at least recommended such practice.
It's at times done at the start of the Mass when the priest requires all to greet the other Good morning or Good afternoon or Good evening. This would appear to be safe, although unnecessar y.
But during the homily a dose of such social interaction is often liberally imposed, pushing the faithful to brief bursts of laughter, or shy half compliance, or other reactions that divert from the initial solemnity. I am fully convinced of the wrongness of
it.
It’s not as a matter of ego as of insult that some ignore the socialization call which, I feel, is not even worthy of kindergarten consideration. It’s beyond good reason to impose declarations that could lead to extreme awkwardness, even disrepair of human relationships, as when the next person is physically unattractive or has halitosis when the priest demands that everyone inquire into the beauty or fresh breath of the other.
Maglanque said the measure will help limit the movement of people and the possible transmission of virus.
Aside from the said measure, the EO also limit the operations of restaurants, cafe and other food establishments to delivery and take-out services only.
Supermarket, groceries and other establishments are also allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity until 8:00 p.m. only.