Father Cameron Faller, vocations director for the San Francisco archdiocese, gave a 13-minute homily on Corpus Christi Sunday at Star of the Sea parish.
Here are excerpts:
I come somewhat shameful and apologetic. I know many Catholics, maybe some of you, have been disappointed by the way the Church has acted, disappointed by clergy members. Some of you may have felt abandoned….
Back on March 16, the federal initiative was called “15 days to slow the spread.” Those 15 days would’ve ended on March 31. It’s June 14….
I do believe there’s a lesson to be learned… The main lesson is that this can’t happen again. There are a few lessons we can learn from our culture. On March 16 the mayor said we didn’t need to rush out to the stores. She said the grocery stores would remain open, restaurants would continue to do take-out, supply lines wouldn’t stop because food was essential….
And yet at the very same time what is the message that came across to many of you? That sacramental food, the Body of Christ, the bread of life became so quickly non-essential.
We never said this as a Church, but sometimes actions speak louder than words. What did we say? We said, “well, watch livestream, do spiritual Communion, saints have gone months without the sacraments…” None of that was a lie. That is part of our Catholic tradition. But it is only a smaller part of our Catholic tradition.
The truth is that for 2000 years on numerous occasions our Catholic ancestors sacrificed their lives just to go to Mass…
In the early Church under the Roman empire, people would gather in homes to celebrate the Mass. People were brought to the court and they knew they would be tortured and killed. Their leader said, “we cannot live without this thing of the Lord. We cannot live without the Eucharist.”
Flash forward 1500 years and we get the story of Father Walter Ciszek about his time in a Russian gulag. In the Russian work camps, Mass was illegal. This priest found a way to have Mass in secret. He found bread, he found wine. People would fast all day long after 14 hours of back-breaking work. Here’s what Father Ciszek said: “What a source of sustenance the Eucharist was to us then…. For us it was a necessity…. I would go to any length to make the bread of life available to these men….”
The resurrected Lord has a physical reality to His being, and so in the Eucharist He seeks to communicated that to us, because we are physical beings.
As C.S. Lewis says what we do with our bodies affects our souls. Which is why we so desperately need the Eucharist, so that we won’t collapse on our spiritual journeys. Part of me fears what effect this could have on the Church. That the very life force of people’s spiritual lives has been taken away – for three months.
Another lesson that we’ve learned from our society certain things are so necessary that you need to break social distancing protocol in order to do them. Notice with these protests that livestream wasn’t good enough. People needed to gather together in a physical time and a physical space, physically close to one another. Why? Because we are embodied spirits…. Social justice before social distancing…. I say Amen.
You have a right to receive Christ in the Eucharist. Social justice before social distancing.
The archbishop said a number of times during this pandemic that the pandemic will reveal our faith, for better or for worse.
Speaking of no one in particular I don’t think the revelation of the Church’s faith has been very good. What we have revealed to the world is that government ordinances are more important than the ordinances of God….
I think the Lord is using this pandemic to prune the Church….
Well said.
The Catholic Church should never be at the mercy of the godless State.
Rubbish! This priest is willing to put people at risk of catching the virus and in some cases dying because of it. Here is what we know: when you have a virus like covid-19 it is best to stay away from others and wear a mask so that you don’t accidentally breathe on them. It is really simple to help others for the common good. The science tells us to not congregate. Why do so many want to put others in harm’s way? You can’t fix stupid!
Hey Bob One, feel free to stay home and enjoy a live streamed Mass and spiritual communion. Rejoice for those who are now able to attend in person, they are not stupid, they are exercising their First Amendment rights. Shame on you for denigrating them!
Nobody looks forward to going back to church than I do. That said, I don’t want to be responsible for infecting other people, who might then die. And, I don’t want them to infect me. At our local church, which holds about 800 people, only 100 can attend any one Mass, and they must have made an online reservation, wear a mask, and stay far away from everyone else..That seems reasonable. But, to suggest that we should just open everything up elbow to elbow, cheek to jowl, is inconsiderate of others. The pandemic is growing. There will be thousands of new cases in a couple of weeks because of the protest we are experiencing. Nearly 800-1000 people die every day from the virus. Hospitalizations are going up in almost every state. It really doesn’t have anything to do with the First Amendment, it has to do with every citizen’s responsibility to look out for the common good, to be his/her brother’s keeper. Wash your hands, wear a mast, stay home as much as possible.
It has EVERYTHING to do with out freedom, something you will easily get rid off.. This virus (so called) has a 99.7% survival rate… yet your crowd would shut down the entire world just to gain more control.
When it was announced that the Catholic churches would be closed, and no more Masses said, I cried. What will I do when I can’t receive Jesus? Yes, I watched live-streaming Masses and prayed spiritual Communion, but felt empty. Thankfully, just three weeks ago, a Catholic church in my city offered drive-up Communion. Then, two weeks ago, my own parish offered drive-up Communion. How I long for our church doors to open and Mass said. This thing with only 12 people allowed in large churches is nuts. When are our bishops going to stand up and say enough is enough?
I think it is very unfortunate wording to say “you have a right to receive Christ in the Eucharist.” If the Eucharist is being distributed, you have a conditional right to receive it. You need to be of age and fasting and in a state of grace and to have arrived at Mass prior to the consecration.. It is a right in a way since no one can deny you communion justly if you meet the obligatory conditions but it always more of a privilege than a right. No harm is done to those who cannot receive Holy Communion just as no harm is done to those who cannot receive Holy Orders.
The examples of the martyrs are wonderful but in this pandemic you would be deciding not just that you would be willing to die to receive Communion but that you would also be willing to kill to receive Holy Communion.
Anonymous, while it’s true that many saints and martyrs received Holy Communion infrequently, they went to Mass often. Catholics have been denied access to the free exercise of their religious norms, and it should not have been denied them, pandemic or not.
Your leap leap into death and killing is a dramatic overreach, hugely exaggerated and cause enough for your comments to be made anonymously.
You did not understand the post.
Absolutely. We are beyond frustrated that there was no pushback from the Church. We could go to Target, Home Depot…but not Church. If the Bishops had defied or at least loudly opposed the order, the people would have been behind them. What a great witness it would have been…millions of people fighting for the right to worship God. What great optics—priests and parishioners hauled to jail. Instead we just sat in silence. This was a terrible lost opportunity for Catholics to stand up for their faith, and for evangelization.
Bob One, your last 4words we’re a projection…
Google changed my word: were, not “we’re”
92 people attended a church gathering where 2 people had Covid 19. 35 of the people attending the Church gathering got Covid 19 from those 2 people. Those 35 people infected 29 other people who were not at the gathering. 4 people died.
And? Your point?
What were the underlying conditions and the ages of those 4 who died? Pls provide a link.
More fear mongering from you and Bobone.
If those that have underlying conditions or who have fear, stay at home. Ask for an EMHC to visit you in your home to receive our Lord.
The rest of us would like to get on with our lives.
Here is a link, Keith. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6920e2.htm
I thank God for the blessing of protecting me and most of my family from the coronavirus so far and for the healing of those who got it.
For those who will never have a normal life again because they may not live to see Phase 3 (and if they do, they will have to take precautions),
or for those who will never have the same life again due to the death of a parent or child, or due to having major complications from contracting Covid 19, please say a prayer. Please do as the Pope asked: pray the Rosary or Chaplet of Mercy to implore from Almighty God the end of the pandemic, for the recovery of those afflicted and for the repose of the souls of those the Lord has taken to himself. Please also pray for the dying.
Keith, “Fear Mongering” might be apt from your vantage point, but not from mine. I see my caution as simply a moderate acquiessense to the facts that we read about every day. This we know: the virus is spread from people to people who breathe on each other. Most people don’t know that they have the virus, so they don’t pay much attention to the reality. We know the virus kills, mostly older people with underlying conditions, but not exclusivly. So, the best way to ensure that you don’t infect someone is to stay home, if possible. But, if you do go out in public, wear a mask and stay six feet away from the next person. That is not fear mongering, but an abundance of caution. I would also say that it is not ok for you to choose to not wear a mask in public because you have a duty to protect otheres from getting the virus. Caution, not fear!
If our 1st Amendment rights were violated, why did the USCCB or State Conferences or Dioceses not seek relief in federal courts? I can understand initially, obeying the lockdowns, but as time progressed, governments did not apply the rules neutrally, and church gatherings were targeted.
The clergy can spend millions on defending against civil lawsuits, but they spent nothing to fight for our 1st Amendment rights.
Our clergy is weak and worldly.
This should not happen again? Why did we even allow it this time?
Jim – Don’t you remember all the news articles and on line coverage of the Fr Fallers and the many bishops and priests arrested for violating the stay at home orders in order to say public Mass and perform their other sacramental duties?
No, me either.
Absolutely agree with you Bob One. This priest is very misguided in regards to his guidance and theology.