Anyone who recalls their basic catechism would be able to rattle off the Penny Catechism definition of what a sacrament is – an outward sign of an inward grace. As a youngster, when I first came across this definition, it really made little sense to me. I just remembered it by heart, and it was much later that I appreciated how, when stripped of all its theological language and jargon, this definition whittled it down to its true and barest essence. Seminary formation in the theological years helped to broaden the richness, truth and beauty of each of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, and to impress upon me how central it is in our Catholic faith that God’s grace (both actual and sanctifying) are bestowed on us when we fully and actively participate in the celebration of the Sacraments. And the chief of the Sacraments is the Mass, otherwise known as the Blessed Sacrament.
In order for us to receive the graces that come from the Sacrament, we have to be physically (and mentally) present at the celebrations. This was well understood as it was unthinkable that anyone could (or would) be at a celebration without truly and physically being at such a celebration. Until the chaos of the COVID pandemic came a-visiting last year to just about every country in the world. It caused many countries to go into a lockdown, some more than once in the space of a year, and for a relatively prolonged period of time.
This very unique and hitherto unparalled situation in the world’s history caused the emergence of what was once deemed to be only imagined – that there could be something that could be a virtual or on-line celebration of the Eucharist.
Sacramentologists (theologians who specialize in the study of the sacraments) would have most likely discarded as nonsensical that such a thing could ever exist. After all, sacraments at their heart convey a reality of a true human physical encounter with the divine in and through our God-given 5 senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. There is nothing ‘virtual’ about any of them.
But in this unique COVID situation where there seems to be a preeminence of needing to distance ourselves physically from one another in order to stay alive and healthy, we have ‘invented’ a way to virtually celebrate them. The Sacrament of the Eucharist, which is THEsacrament par excellence, has acquired a virtual character, and access to it has become easy – a bit tooeasy – by just turning on our tablets or computer screens and sticking a pair of ear buds into our ears. Moreover, it also has acquired something hitherto unimaginable for a Catholic – that it can even be something that is available ‘on demand’. It can give the impression that even for accessibility to God’s grace, I hold the controls, and I call the shots, because now, God’s ways are my ways, and not the other way around.
By the looks of things and messages that are coming from the authorities concerned at the governmental levels, it will still be quite a long ways off before we see a complete lifting of the limit of people who can physically be in Church for Mass or any other worship event. At the time of this blog’s release, the rules allow up to 250 persons (seated in five separate clusters of 50 persons each) to be present where Masses are celebrated. I have heard a plethora of responses whenever I ask Catholics if they have been coming back to the physical celebrations of the Mass now that the COVID restrictions have been somewhat eased.
The responses have been broad ranging. Here are some of them:
- I prefer to ‘watch’ online Masses because it’s now so convenient for us.
- I like online Masses as I can go all over the world to ‘shop’ for (good homilies, short Masses, priests who don’t preach on weekdays, etc.)
- I like online Masses because I don’t have to dress for church.
- I am afraid to be exposed to COVID because of the crowds in church.
- I like Masses to be available online because I am elderly and home bound, and this gives me some access to the celebration of the Mass.
I would say that the last two are valid reasons, but as for the others, it isn’t surprising to find many of these responses being centered on what the “I” prefers. Indeed, the relativistic atmosphere that we are steeped in is so clear, where even where faith is concerned, it isn’t about God but about “me”.
While I can understand that there is a need to be vigilant in not giving cause for any COVID clusters to develop through gatherings at events like Masses in church, there is something that is being conveyed without us even thinking deeply about it, and it is this – that while physical health is important, it gives the notion that physical health is the primary good, to which all other needs must give obeisance to.
This runs rather contrary to what we believe as Catholics. Our belief, when whittled down to its core, is that nothing in this life is to be the highest order and as such gets top priority. It is not money, not status, not earthly happiness, not even our families or even our spouses. Jesus puts it so clearly and, I daresay shockingly so when he says that no one who prefers father, mother, son, daughter etc. to him is worthy of him, and that he has come to divide people against each other, and from now on families will be split apart, three against two, and two against three.
Many preachers walk on very fragile eggshells when confronted with these texts, but they are the Word of God. The essence of these challenging texts is not that Jesus wants to cause friction and factions among families, but to show that even familial bonds which are deemed sacrosanct in many, if not all cultures, are secondary to our relationship with Jesus, because he is the resurrection and the life. He is not the (healthy) life, but the (eternal) life.
Now I can hear a chorus of reactions from my readers wanting to protest against what I just wrote, saying things like “are we then just to throw caution to the wind just because it is not this life that is important but only heaven’s eternal life that should only matter”? No. I am not saying that at all. But if we continue to think that it is a healthy life in this world that should be our highest aim, whether as individuals or as a society, we have forgotten how clearly Jesus said that the most important commandment is the first, which is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength and all our mind, and the second is to love our neighbour as ourselves. He did not say that we are to love our health with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.
We easily end up relativizing the (primary) importance of grace and how grace should be given the top priority in our lives. This is already seen in the way that we hardly give much attention to whether we are in a state of grace or not when we come to physical Masses. I certainly do hope that every Catholic who goes up to the sanctuary to receive Holy Communion is in a state of grace for them to be able to receive the graces that come from a worthy reception of the Lord, but just looking at the numbers who do make an appointment for their confession to be heard and comparing to the numbers who come up for communion at each Mass, I am afraid of the sadder truth that there are a lot of sacrilegious communions that are taking place at each Mass. I am truly frightened for the health of the souls of so many of my flock, but I can only do so much to encourage frequent confession to ensure that we are in a reasonable state of grace most of the time.
When we truly begin to understand and appreciate deeply the importance of grace in our lives, and that the means to obtain this is through physical celebrations of the Sacraments and physical reception of Holy Communion, we will wantto come to physical Masses, and know that virtual Masses just are not the same, and will never be the same. At best, it is a second best option; just like a zoom conversation with our friends and relatives who are in another country are only second best to a true face-to-face encounter with them.
Are we content to just “settle” for something ersatz? If we are, how can we ever have the gall to ask that God give us his best? But we do – all the time.
I hope that those who are reading this rather long reflection will make the effort to begin going back to physical Masses if you have ‘settled’ for what is offered online or virtually. Just as we don’t want God to only give us his ‘virtual’ graces, neither should we be contented with giving God anything virtual.
There is very little virtue in things that are only virtual.
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