FATHER CLOSES THE CHURCH; GOD CLOSES BARS AND NIGHTCLUBS

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"We have to keep the churches closed."
"Why?" 
"People aren't allowed to go out."
"Who said?"
"Father."

Behold the effect of coronaphobia: I asked this morning why my parish church of St Joseph's was locked. After all, in the notice cellotaped to the church door New Zealand's Bishops, with singular attention to detail had stated that "some churches will remain open", not "some churches will be closed". I used my key and on leaving I locked it again - but against my better judgment. This afternoon I visited Our Lady of Lourdes in leafy Havelock North. The door was wide open. There was a bottle of sanitiser on a table: "Please use but don't take away. For God's sake."  Inside, someone was making the Stations of the Cross. We smiled at each other; I recognised him as a Latin Mass adherent. I had a half hour of silent prayer and leaving I noticed the TLM guy still there, apparently doing what I'd done.  I returned to Waipukurau and unlocked St Joseph's once more, to pray the Divine Office for the Vigil  of the Immaculate Conception. Our parish Mass tomorrow morning for the Solemnity will be celebrated by Father, in private. Later in the day the indult Latin Mass will be celebrated too, again in private. Only in Whanganui will there be lay people assisting, praying, offering the august Sacrifice of the Mass to God several times over, with flowers, candles, altar boys, hymns and I suppose the organ too.  In the rest of the Diocese of Palmerston North, on this great feast nine months away from the Birth of Our Lord and Saviour, not only are we now deprived of Communion on the tongue. Not only are we deprived of the Mass. In my parish church at least, we are also deprived of simple, personal prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament - and all for a very questionable end; Beating The Bug. Effectively, for the average Catholic in the pew, the bishops' notice last Friday rendered the Mass unavailable. In effect, they have banned it. Realistically we should admit that in view of the catechesis lay people have received since Vatican II, they know next to nothing about attending Mass in spirit, or Spiritual Communion. The bishops may have issued instructions to do that via email, but many elderly Catholics - those with underlying health conditions who are most at risk - have no access to those instructions and would probably lack initiative to implement them anyway. Poland's bishops did not cancel Masses. Rather they increased their number, to improve 'physical distance'. And what is Polish Catholics reaction? They're not turning up. This is the state to which the Novus Ordo has reduced the laity, now stripped of their faith. The new norm will work to some extent with educated, affluent Catholics (always bearing in mind that attending in spirit does not confer the graces of attending physically). Once laymen and women are out of the habit of attending Sunday Mass, I believe most will likely never resume. Just a many cafes and restaurants after four weeks out of business will never revive.  Call me a pariah, call me a vector for driving to Whanganui last Sunday for the St Anthony's glorious Mass, but probing the causes of the media-hype to we've been subjected, I very seriously doubt the wisdom of the government's and our bishops' orchestrated response to coronavirus. It smacks to me of globalism.  Call me heartless, but when one considers the long-term effect on our economy and society of a 'four-week lockdown' it almost seems like our nation's future - our children and grandchildren's future - is being sacrificed to save the lives of mostly elderly people who will simply die anyway, sooner rather than later.  And call me cynical, but those elderly people probably won't die until after September's election. "We are already witnessing edicts in other countries that amount to the regimentation of entire populations. Such measures have shuttered virtually all businesses, barred “nonessential” travel, prohibited most gatherings, imposed curfews, and established martial law in all but name.  "This has taken place not only in dictatorial China and North Korea, but in democratic countries such as Italy, Spain, and France."  https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/liberty-and-the-coronavirus-not-an-either-or-proposition/ In the US this season, 31 million Americans have had flu. Thousands have died, many in spite of vaccination. Globally, the World Health Organisation estimates that flu kills 290,000 to 650,000 people every year.  And don't get me started on deaths by abortion.  So could we please stop panicking about coronavirus? There is a supernatural perspective which reassures us that this life is fleeting and only preparation for the eternal life to come. Trouble is, the faith which sheds that light on this world has been eroded, chiefly I believe by Vatican II's substitution of the Novus Ordo (New Mass) for the real McCoy.  Not that the NO isn't real, it is; but it simply does not teach, inform and inspire like the Traditional Latin Mass. I wish you all could have heard Fr Michael Johnson's sermon last Sunday at St Anthony's on the Particular Judgment. This 'temporary suspension' of the Mass might be the moment for the Traditional Latin Mass to fill the breach and gain many more adherents. Bearing in mind the admonition of St Peter - "Never be a dictator over any group that is put in your charge"(1 Pet 5:3) - one wonders what soundings the bishops took of the Latin Mass community throughout New Zealand. The hierarchy should have been challenged, especially in regard to their cavalier attitude to canon law in dispensing with the obligation of Sunday Mass, it seems on the say-so of a government which had just taken advantage of coronavirus to enact a very evil law.  But God is amazingly inventive. It was Father who closed our parish church, but in reality it's God who closes bars, nightclubs, restaurants, cancels rock concerts and docks cruise ships; He postpones the Olympic Games.  God ushers mankind now into a Lenten retreat like no other, offering Himself as our Divine Director. And to assist Him, here is St Teresa of Avila: Let nothing disturb thee Let nothing affright thee All things pass away God alone is changeless Patience obtaineth all things Who hath God, wanteth nothing God alone sufficeth.