Fauci: Distributing Communion Risky

Interview with America:


Dr. Anthony Fauci: To keep churches safe, use masks, limit singing and wait to resume Communion

“If you are in a region, a city, a county, where there is a significant amount of infection, I think with distributing Communion, I think that would be risky. I'm telling you that as a Catholic, it would be risky.”

“As many times as a priest can wash his hands, he gets to Communion, he puts it in somebody’s hand, they put it in their mouth...it’s that kind of close interaction that you don’t want when you’re in the middle of a deadly outbreak,” he said.

Dr. Fauci said he believes some people should continue to avoid crowded situations whenever possible, including religious services. He said that in the short time since the coronavirus was discovered, churches have been shown to be particularly risky in terms of creating clusters of infection.

“There have been situations in multiple countries where the source of the cluster was a church service,” he said. “That's the reason why we gotta be so careful about that.”

As a result, even if churches are open, the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions should consider staying home, “because they really are at high risk,” he said. “It would be so tragic for someone who just comes to a place of worship, gets sick themselves, or gets infected and brings it home to an elderly person who might have a compromising comorbidity, and the person gets seriously ill and dies.”

MY CONCLUSION

Most American Bishops are in areas where they are taking very high risks, as are the elderly and those with vulnerable medical conditions.  When we should not be singing under any conditions or even speaking without a mask, and really don't have safe procedures for distributing communion, we should really be worshiping from home. After betraying our children to sexual abuse, the Bishops are  betraying our elderly to the virus, all because of money. 

Come, Holy Spirit during this time of killing, looting, shooting - and irresponsible leadership

                                                                                                  Julio Cortez/AP

The horrifying killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer (please be warned: I found the linked video upsetting to watch) has unleashed protests in cities across the US.

[Update 1:41 pm CDT: the officer identified as keeping his knee on Floyd's neck, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and will be charged with murder and manslaughter by the Hennepin County Attorney.]

President Trump is actively seeking to turn the situation to his re-election advantage.

Seems Like Old Times. Not.

 I went to Mass this morning, and you probably couldn't. So I'll tell you about it.

 Our governor, considering the best available advice (the kind that comes from The Don) is opening Florida as fast as he can. For one thing, Rudy Guilliani is delinquent in property tax on his Palm Beach condo; we had to get people back to work to dun him. In keeping with the spirit of everything, our bishops are reopening the churches.

 On Monday weekday Masses started, and this Sunday, y'all come but stay six feet apart and please, please, please observe social distance. (OK, we know you won't observe social distance, but we are required to ask.)

 I didn't return Monday because it was Memorial Day and first Mass since March 19, so a crowd was likely. Only forty showed up, I am told. I missed Tuesday because of my grocery shopping hour, and Wednesday because of the men's group. So today was the day.

 It was different, but not that different. Every other pew had a rope across the entrance and a sign explaining why. Thursday attendance usually has been the lowest of the week. There were 27 of us today, about half or an ordinary Thursday. We were all sitting at the ends of unblocked pews, except for three people from Century Village (over-55 community) who came together and sat together. That is OK under the rules. We all wore masks.

 It is hard to sing with a mask on.

 At Communion Deacon Pete read a prepared statement recommending reception in the hand and asking people who want to receive on the tongue anyway to wait until last. Pete tells the mouth-takers are pretty much ignoring the request. They are supposed to receive from the kamikazi priest. But Father George sat down, and Pete had to risk seppuku.

 The rest of us received in two hands and then used one to raise or lower our masked. The raisers and lowerers seemed to be about 50-50.

 We did better than I am told is usual at maintaining distance leaving church.

 There was a Mass, but it had strong elements of learning to color between the lines. I am in no hurry to try it with a full house of one-third the usual Sunday Mass crowd while the state teeters on the edge of a surge (and Rudy isn't answering his phone). I told the pastor last week that he'll see me on a Sunday sometime in October.

HOUSEKEEPING NOTE: I wrote this on the new, revised Blogger page format, which I think the old one says will become mandatory in June some time. If you hit the red "try it" button on the left side of the old screen, you will end up here and probably never get back. At lease I can't.

 

 

Take that Sen. McConnell

Gov. Andrew Cuomo visited Trump today, and then he went to the National Press Club for his daily press conference.....

Listen up!  Be sure to get to the Q and A.

Genealogical oopsies

Genealogy is not necessarily my cup of tea.  But I have family members who slurp it right down, and recently one of them, in her researches, discovered a closet, opened the door and found a skeleton grinning back at her.

I thought about the VP and Came Up Empty

 If I am Kamala Harris I am thinking that maybe I don’t want Joe Biden to call about the vice-presidential nomination.
 I am thinking I’m Kamala Harris because the people who decide such things have made Biden’s VP pick the paramount political issue of the week. They are thinking Joe has to pick a black female, and if she can’t be Michelle Obama or Oprah, Harris is the next best known. (What about Beyonce?)

New "Social Distancing" Performance from the New York City Ballet

The New York City Ballet "is proud to present this world premiere ballet – created together but apart – featuring choreography and performances from Tiler Peck, Troy Schumacher, Lauren Lovette, Ashley Bouder, and Peter Walker, set to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major. A Part of Together was created for Lincoln Center’s #ConnectingForCulture, an initiative to unite our community, reinforce the role the arts play in everyone's lives, and galvanize support as we navigate the continued challenges ahead."

Go here and scroll down to find the video titled A Part of Together. (If there is a way to link directly, I haven't figured it out.)

I could never be described as a balletomane, but this brief (six minute) performance is something I think most people will enjoy.

Household milestone dates

This weekend is a confluence of notable dates.  By the time I hit the Publish button to this post, it will be Memorial Day in the Eastern Time Zone.  And on the church calendar here in the Central Time Zone, at least this part of it, the church has moved Ascension to today (it's still Sunday here for another hour).

Our household marches to its own calendar of holidays and other milestones.  Two of my children had birthdays within the last couple of weeks.  And within the last month or so, we moved two children out of college for the summer.  These are annual events which mean nothing to our neighbors or virtually anyone else on the planet, but for members of the family, they are significant: we plan our time around them and spend money on them.

If birthdays and college move-ins and move-outs are family solemnities, the household has its feasts and moments of lesser rank, too.

Why America Can't Deal With the Coronavirus

There is an interesting article on the Vox News site, entitled Is America Too Libertarian to Deal With the Coronavirus? The article is in the form of an interview, with Sean Illing, Vox journalist, and Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University professor.

Norma McCorvey

Norma McCorvey, the "Jane Roe" of Roe v Wade, hasn't pinged much on my radar over the years.   I'm aware, of course, that she (allegedly, I guess we now need to stipulate) had a conversion experience in the 1990s in which she was baptized, announced she was pro-life, become a pro-life activist, and eventually a Catholic.  Tonight, FX is going to air a documentary film, just in time for election season to start heating up, in which she announces that she grifted everyone because she figured out that being a pro-life celebrity was a way to make some money. 

Happy Ascension Thursday

I have always liked this hymn for the feast of the Ascension, Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise.

Online winners

This NY Times article looks at winners and losers in the world of online shopping during this era in which most of us are vacuum-sealed within our homes.  Not surprisingly, online shopping is booming, even for Luddites like me who much prefer going into traditional, brick-and-mortar retail establishments where we can finger the merchandise and try on the clothing.  Many of the traditional retail stores in strip malls, shopping malls and Main Streets have been deemed non-essential by various governors - and even if they hadn't, risk-averse Americans would have been avoiding them in droves over the last 2+ months.  Sadly, the coronavirus may have hastened the deaths of a good many businesses.

Among the online goods-and-services winners during this coronavirus era:  Instacart (grocery delivery, currently clobbering more-established services like Peapod), Target (general-purpose retailing, apparently taking market share away from Amazon), Doordash (blowing past GrubHub and Uber Eats in restaurant meals delivery), GameStop (delivery of video games, long a major time-consumer/waster for all my children) and LuluLemon (comfortable pants for women who have to sit in un-ergonomic chairs at home all day as they stare at laptop screens).

VIRTUAL DIVINE OFFICE UPDATE

I am getting to the place in the Virtual Divine Office that I have done a lot of the ground work, e.g. building a template for the four week cycle so that as each new day comes, I can copy something from four weeks ago and just change one thing.  Today for Morning prayer I only HAD to change the Benedictus antiphon.

EASTER WEEK 6 WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER

So now I can get creative, like add my collection of thousands of my photos.

The blog is subtitled "Songs of the People of God" because its aim is to add music resources to the personal and small group celebration of the Divine Office.  So I really don't give things like the readings which you can find in a book, or on the internet or even choose your own.

To get a full idea of the celebration I give a link at the top to the text THE mostly spoken celebration of the Divine Office. I think it follows the official text very well but not much music,

For the Hymn to match my photographs I choose the popular Oceans. You have two links, one from a popular production. The other is to the SATB version which our parish actually used when we did this for Easter, etc.

All the photographs were from one evening shoot down at the Lake, arranged as a commentary on the antiphons of the psalms and canticles, and hence on the psalms and canticles themselves. I gave two photo commentaries on the Benedictus. The first one is my sociological big view of the antiphon and of the evenings photos. The second finally reveals what I had carefully chosen to avoid,  the guy who is surfing.  But then the Benedictus is about the Child and so perhaps after all the wind, waves, and lights and clouds we should finally have the future as personal.

For my computer you can put the Divine Office website sound track in one tab, and if you click on any of the five photographs of the post in another tab and each photograph will almost fill the screen but  you can toggle from one photograph to the other as the recitation continues.

For the evening office since this is First Vespers of the Ascension in some places I gave a link to the old Monastic Office as it is still celebrated in Latin somewhere in Europe (I think B16 encouraged them to keep it) with the Latin/English translation

FIRST VESPERS OF THE ASCENSION IN THE OLD MONASTIC DIVINE OFFICE

Enjoy

A couple of brief thoughts on suddenly-relevant films

1.  A week or so ago, my wife and I watched Dallas Buyers Club on NetFlix.  We hadn't caught it when it was in theatrical release in 2013, even though it had grabbed a trio of Oscars.  Pretty good film - and pretty topical in some ways: it tells the story of a 1980s-era AIDS patient who is stymied by the federal government from getting medications to treat his infection.  So he goes to Mexico and other international locales to smuggle in effective medications from other countries.   He then sets up a "buyer's club" as a sort of legal construct which allows him to share the drugs with other AIDS patients without falling afoul of anti-trafficking laws.  The main character, played by Matthew McConaughey (winner, Academy Award, Best Actor), is an intolerant redneck with other massive character flaws, but he proves to be a plucky and shrewd entrepreneur, and he undergoes enough personal growth that we end up rooting for him.  In this and in other ways, it's a surprisingly Republican film.  His character's assistant in the business, a trans woman, also issue-y but sympathetic, played by Jared Leto (winner, Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor), may have been more transgressive of mainstream American mores in 2013 than she would be now.

The parallels are palpable with our time of COVID-19, as the country waits on tenterhooks for a vaccine to come, while the federal government is seen as a bungling obstacle to progress.  Whether the NetFlix powers that be were attuned to the Zeitgeist and made their programming decision accordingly, or if it is just coincidence that the film is available now, it's worth watching in light of our current situation.

2.  Although it has been a lot of years since I've sat down to watch it all the way through, Jaws (1975, perhaps unfairly passed over for major Academy Awards) also seems to be a film for our time.  The great white shark as a symbol for the coronavirus is apt.  And the town's reluctance to shut down for the summer season, with the resulting carnage, hits too close to home for comfort.

Any other cinematic or literary works from other eras that seem fresh again?

Progress Report

It is encouraging to review all the efforts at finding tests, treatments, and vaccines for COVID-19.
Here are two links, with helpful charts, outlining the therapeutic agents, tests, and vaccine candidates which are in the works:  this one from  Visual Capitalist, and another from Biorender.com.
Listed are 41 diagnostic tests, 23 therapeutic agents, and 41 vaccine candidates.

Some miscellaneous coronavirus reading

Three things I read recently which piqued my interest:

Our Mass Today

Ascension Parish has celebrated Mass for the past several Sundays on YouTube.
Here is today's celebrating Pentecost. 
Music too!  For you Schubert fans, today's Gloria is included. You can sing along without embarrassment or frowns from your fellow parishioners.  Sermon very good and apropos of the Gospel and our current situation.
Starring: Fr. Dan Kearney, Deacon Nelson Falcon, Music Director Preston Smith, and the brilliant Margarita Martinez (who doesn't miss a beat or a high note in the Gloria).
Alleluia!

Solidarity during this time

This is my homily for this weekend, the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A.  The readings for the weekend are here.  In addition, our parish's recording of this week's mass is here, for at least the next day or two, on the St. Edna Parish website.  I give this homily (or something like it) in the recording.

No Choir or Congregational Singing at Reopened Masses in Cleveland UPDATED

Music Ministry at Publicly Celebrated Mass during the Coronavirus Pandemic 

The following liturgical music directives are in effect temporarily and will be updated as new information becomes available.

Various scientific studies have shown that singing dramatically increases the transmission of viruses.
A recent webinar to discuss these scientific findings was hosted by the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), Chorus America, Barbershop Harmony Society, and Performing Arts Medical Association (PAMA). Dr. Lucinda Halstead, MD, an otolaryngologist at the Medical University of South Carolina, stated unequivocally during this webinar that under current coronavirus pandemic conditions, there is no way for congregations or choirs to  safely sing together. Dr. Halstead further explained that masked singing is also unsafe, and that humming is, unfortunately, no different in terms of contagion spread than singing.

A Conversation: What Do Science and Data Say About the Near Term Future of Singing
Unfortunately this 2 hr 30 min video is too long and it is missing some of the slides

UPDATE:  LINKS TO SEPARATE PARTS OF CONVERSATION  BELOW

Part 2 Transmission Perspective on COVID19
Excellent presentation by science expert with slides; 23 minutes

Part 3 What Science & Data Say About the Near Term Future of Singing
Excellent presentation by a clinician 23 minutes

Part 4 Q&A Session with Dr Halstead and Dr Milton 23 minutes
 Interesting discussion about UV light


In light of this scientific and medical information, congregational singing and choral singing at public liturgies is temporarily suspended, and church choir rehearsals are not permitted until further notice. 

The Communion Service

Jesuit Father Thomas Reese has a good article on the NCR site today, American Catholics, Meet the Communion Service.  From the article:
"When churches begin opening, social distancing will allow fewer people to attend Mass at the same time, which means more services will be required. Granted the scarcity of Catholic priests, and their average age, there will not be enough priests with sufficient stamina to do all these services. Therefore, some of the services will not be Masses but Communion services."

Small businesses will not wait

In my view, phased re-openings will be widely ignored, and virtually all retail and other small businesses will reopen in a matter of weeks, if not days.

People May Return to Church but Dare They Actively Participate

Talking Can Generate Coronavirus Droplets That Linger Up to 14 Minutes

NYT: A new study shows how respiratory droplets produced during normal conversation may be just as important in transmitting disease, especially indoors.

The research, published Wednesday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help explain how people with mild or no symptoms may infect others in close quarters such as offices, nursing homes, cruise ships and other confined spaces. The study’s experimental conditions will need to be replicated in more real-world circumstances, and researchers still don’t know how much virus has to be transmitted from one person to another to cause infection. But its findings strengthen the case for wearing masks and taking other precautions in such environments to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

1. Certainly this study seems to rule out congregational singing during Mass

2. It also seems to rule out congregational recitation of any of the prayers unless they are wearing high quality masks.

3. It also questions the social distance rule of 6 feet which has been interpreted here in this diocese as 50% occupancy. 

What is Active Participation in the Pandemic Situation?

COVID-19 restrictions as a pro-life and common-good imperative

I've been intending to try to put together a rather ambitious post on the pro-life imperative to take precautions during this time of COVID-19.  I still may (although it will be several days before I have the time to think and write).  My resolution to undertake it was sharpened yesterday by this blog post by Dan McLaughlin at National Review.  I don't have time to analyze it in detail at the moment, so let it suffice for me to say that, while I applaud attempts to apply church moral and social teaching to important contemporary issues, I'm not sure this one hits the bulls-eye.

Then, this morning, I read the following letter from Cardinal Cupich.  It prefaces our archdiocese's plan for resuming liturgical and sacramental life - about which I'll post separately when I have time.  The cover letter is pretty brief, and I don't think I'm violating the letter or spirit of any ethical laws by pasting it below.  To my reading, it did hit the bulls-eye.  What I admire about it is how it integrates our reverence of life with our concern for the common good.   In my view, we are seeing these two goods pitted against one another in the current civic conflict: those who wish to re-open the economy and society (for reasons of the common good) versus those who wish to take a cautious approach (for reasons of preserving lives and health).

I've also taken a page from Jim McCrea's book by taking the liberty of highlighting certain portions of the text which seem to me to correspond with church teaching.  Here is the letter.  I hope you find its wisdom as resonant as I did:

Good News

As reported in the Washington Post: New York Times reporter Don McNeil utters some home truths on CNN, but could never say on his employer's dime. Maybe that's okay, if he had the guts to say them to Christine Amanpour where many more people would hear them. McNeil has been covering the plague.

Weird Christianity

A couple of interesting articles this week about what is happening with christianity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/08/opinion/sunday/weird-christians.html

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/the-allure-and-danger-of-anti-modern-religion.html

Comments?  Where do you think Christianity is headed?

I have no idea.

A Fatima thought from Kevin Williamson

This is from Williamson's weekly newsletter, "The Tuesday":

"Wednesday is the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. As Franciscan Media puts it, during that famous visitation “Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia.” I think it is almost safe to say that World War I has come to an end. Maybe not. If it is the case, as some historians say, that the two world wars were in effect one big war with a long intermission, if the Cold War was in effect a continuation of World War II with the victors fighting for postwar dominance, if, as David Frum argues, the Cold War never really ended . . . . History is very short, looked at the right way, and the work of prayer is never done."

Here's How We'll Do It (Without Me)

Bishop Gerald Barbarito of the diocese of Palm Beach has now issued his "reopening" protocols. Since they are quite detailed, I started a separate thread for them.

Idle Speculation: political dept.

Tara Reade's story of sexual assault looks to be unending. Her story has media attention, right, left, and center. She seems to be more successful at dropping bread crumbs along the way than she was at having a Washington career. Eventually, she will go away. The story will never go away because it will never have a resolution.

So idle speculation: As the presidential campaign wears on, the voters will realize they have a choice between two men accused of sexual harassment. One seems to be a serial harasser; the other seem to possibly (or not) be a one-time harasser. Whatever conclusion a fair-minded voter comes to it is unlikely to have anything to do with sexual harassment. 

1. Voters will choose a president apart from questions of sexual harassment.
2. Sexual harassment will become a ho-hum at least in 2020 national politics, probably by  September 15
3. The sexual harassment revelation movement will have to come up with a more refined system of revelation and resolution, if it is to have an enduring effect.
4. Women who are sexually harassed will have to turn to
     a) the police and the courts;      
     b) blackmail;
     c) karate; 
     d) lowering their quotient as sexual objects.
5. Sexual harassers will get the picture and stop out of fear or remorse.

The Eucharist in the Time of Transition

Many locations are seeking to relax stricter quarantine and stay-at-home policies now.  However indications are that we won't be in a state of "normalcy" until a vaccine for Covid 19 is available.  Many precautions, crowd limiting, distancing, and prudent behavior will need to remain in place until that time.
What does that mean for the church during a time of limited re-opening?  Partial re-opening of Mass doesn't mean that it will be prudent or possible for everyone to attend as before. It is commendable that most dioceses have sought to make live-streamed or recorded Masses available. However by definition this is a limited participation in the celebration of the Eucharist.
In a previous thread we discussed liturgical movements prior to and after Vatican II.  There has been in the past, and in some ways, still is, a reductionist understanding of the Mass .  In my youth the official, or perhaps unofficial, understanding was that it "counted" that you had fulfilled your Mass obligation if you had stayed long enough for the priest's Communion. Now that is a very minimalist and theologically impoverished interpretation. But basically a televised Mass is a spectator event.  We try to enter into it more fully by making a spiritual Communion, but we hunger and long for the physical reception of the Sacrament. I have some suggestions following about how we might have better sacramental inclusivity during this time.

Reopening Business and Catholic Parishes in Ohio

The State of Ohio has begun to reopen businesses on May 1st. Religious organizations have never been subject to the Stay at Home orders.  Almost all have complied. The few that did not were characterized as being very unwise by the Governor. I suspect their lawyers decided it was best to comply. Catholic Bishops of Ohio have announced that they are planning for a possible resumption at the end of May on Pentecost Sunday/  

SUMMARY OF NEW RULES WHICH TOOK EFFECT ON MAY 1ST

Lies, Damned Lies and Barr's History

Kellyanne Conway believes in alternative facts, Donald J. Trump believes in alternative science, and Attorney General William Barr, we learned yesterday, believes in alternative history.

Alternative history is stuffed into the Justice Department brief that turned loose the tainted Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.  The brief — which  has the distinction of  not being signed by any of the career prosecutors involved in the case  — is woefully wrong on the facts as well as the law. You can read all that’s wrong at Lawfare.  I just want to say a few words about how Barr’s view of history expressed in his interview with CBS reporter Catherine Herridge.

Leaked CDC decision Tree for Reopening Faith Communities

Leaked CDC decision Tree for Reopening Faith Communities


H/T to Rocco Palmo

SHOULD YOU CONSIDER HAVING IN PERSON GATHERINGS

Is the facility in a community no longer requiring significant mitigation?

Will reopening be in compliance with state and local orders?

Will you be ready to protect staff and congregants at higher risk for severe illness

ANY NO  DO  NOT OFFER IN PERSON GATHERINGS

ALL YES, then

ARE RECOMMEND ED SAFETY ACTIONS IN PLACE?

Promote health hygiene practices such as hand washing and wearing a cloth face covering

Intensify cleaning, disinfection and ventilation

Ensure social distancing such as no large gatherings, increased spacing, no holding hands, off additional , smaller services.

Limit sharing of items such as worship aids and collection trays.

Offer virtual services if possible

Train all staff and congregants on safety practices

ANY NO’S  THEN MEET SAFEGARDS BEFORE OFFERING IN PERSON GATHERINGS

ALL YES, then

IS ONGOING MONITORING IN PLACE?

Encourage staff and congregants who feel sick to stay home

Plan for staff and congregants who get sick at facility

Regular communicate with local authorities, staff, congregants

Monitor staff absences and have flexible leave policies

Be ready to cancel in person gathering if there are increased cases.

On Viral Videos

It seems that there was a youtube video making the rounds, called "Plandemic".  which was full of conspiracy theories and false information. Youtube took the video down, but not before it got widely shared. Because sharing nonsense apparently is like a "little hamster pellet of dopamine" to some people. I have to credit my sister with that phrase.  Anyway, my nephew, Dr. Tony Macdissi, wrote a good post on Facebook addressing some of the issues, including mortality statistics and what appears on death certificates.  His article is after the break:

Maybe People are Smarter than We Think?

I hope that this link is not behind a pay wall since the  Times has free Corona Virus coverage.

Government Orders Alone Didn’t Close the Economy. 

They Probably Can’t Reopen It

Data shows there was a drop in spending and working
even before any official mandates to stay at home.

In the weeks before states around the country issued lockdown orders this spring, Americans were already hunkering down. They were spending less, traveling less, dining out less. Small businesses were already cutting employment. Some were even closing shop.

People were behaving this way — effectively winding down the economy — before the government told them to. And that pattern, apparent in a range of data looking back over the past two months, suggests in the weeks ahead that official pronouncements will have limited power to open the economy back up.

US bishops' guidelines for reopening Mass: UPDATES

NCR story: US bishops' guidelines for reopening Mass

Archbishop Leonard Blair, head of the bishops' Committee on Divine Worship, suggests the prelates consider a series of guidelines prepared by the Thomistic Institute at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington.  

Guidelines on Sacraments and Pastoral Care

Working Group on Infectious Disease Protocols for Sacraments & Pastoral Care 1 April 28, 2020

Probably not back to mass for a while in Illinois

We're starting to get an early view into the future of weekend mass around here.  My guess is, it will be the distant future.  Here is our outlook:

On Mother's Day, don't visit your mom - UPDATED

You know who you are - you who are planning to visit your mom on Mother's Day.  Don't do it.  Stay home.  Call her.  Or Zoom with her.  But don't enter her home with your viruses and germs.  Don't be the problem.  Don't infect your mom.  Don't let her infect you.  Do the right thing.  Stay home.

Update 5/7/2020 11:19 pm CST - As I sat on a table at the physical therapist's earlier today, a group of therapists and patients at adjoining tables engaged in a discussion of what they are going to do on Mother's Day.  All of them are planning to go visit their moms; several were going to visit both their own moms and then their spouses' moms.  There weren't enough people present to constitute a statistically valid sample, but my conclusion from this anecdotal glimpse of people's attitudes is that collectively we have given up on staying home.  Everyone is tired of it, and the spirit of "we're done with it" is now abroad, no doubt reinforced by the protesters and civil disobeyers (and politicians who cater to them) who are now all over the news and social media.  I've also noticed that street traffic is increasing.  My state, Illinois, has hardly relaxed anything at all since the stay-at-home order first went into effect; the only difference is that some businesses previously deemed non-essential may now do curbside deliveries.  But people are getting out more.  And at the risk of doing my Chicken Little impression: I'm finding scant reason for optimism in the numbers of infections and deaths. 

In Chicago, Latinos hit hard by COVID-19

Local news stations are reporting that Latinos in Chicago are being infected disproportionately by the coronavirus.  This development supplements earlier reports that African American communities also have been hard hit.

According to the US Census Bureau, African Americans and Latinos each comprise approximately 30% of Chicago's population.

• The top five local neighborhoods/communities in Chicago for COVID-19 infections are predominantly Spanish-speaking
• In a statistic that one doctor termed "stunning", some 60% of Hispanics who are tested are found to be positive for the coronavirus.  The overall average for positive tests among Chicagoans is 20%

Naturally, it's difficult to know with certainty why Latinos are disproportionately infected.   One possibility is that insufficient health care information is being provided in Spanish.

The plot behind the plot behind the...

Along with many others, I have found the media intensity on the sexual allegations against VP Biden mind-boggling. Much has been made of their long-road to front pages and evening news. And we now see that Biden's denial has only fed the voracious hunger for more.... What is this all about? I found the following comments one way to think about what is going on in the frenzy to "know what really happened."

"The files will contain the sausage making of various political issues that can be cherrypicked to destroy careers (not just Biden’s). Of course Trump people want to expose everything Biden did as a senator. Media outlets are salivating to get into the papers for their own reasons: can you imagine the stories detailing rivalries from the thirty years Biden was in the Senate? It would rival the hay made off the stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee in 2016 which, after all, revealed nothing illegal, but embarrassed Hillary Clinton and the DNC....

"The pressure on Biden to release his papers strikes me as the bad faith use of an important political conversation to score political points. It is vital to uncover the truth of what happened between Biden and Reade, but that’s not what’s going on here. Observers are demanding the release of material that has been donated in good faith for future researchers, to uncover information that we know full well would not be stored there. But it would certainly weaken Biden as a candidate....Please follow me here: I am not speaking of the claims of Ms. Reade, which are a separate conversation. I am talking about the use of her story to control our political narrative. The attempt to get Biden to jump through hoops Trump ignores is classic gaslighting. It keeps Biden on the defensive and makes sure he is reinforcing Trump’s narrative, thus strengthening Trump even as Biden tries to carve out his own campaign. It is precisely what the Trump campaign, abetted by the media, did in 2016."

The comment is from "Letters from an American," by Heather Cox Richardson, who sends a daily letter on our current dilemmas: You can sign up for her free newsletter at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

How many victims do you know?

During last week's pre-recorded mass, our pastor mentioned that one of our parishioners, a young man who is the son of a deacon and whom I know a little bit, is a COVID-19 patient.  He's a nurse who works in a nursing home (I think).  At the moment, he's self-quarantining.  He's on my prayer list.  He's young and, in the normal course of things, is healthy and energetic, so we're hoping he comes through without any serious health issues or complications.

A good song

A couple of days ago, I heard this song, "Grateful", sung by Michael Feinstein.  I had been listening to something just as background music, but the song arrested my attention immediately, and has been running on my "inner soundtrack" ever since.  In the spirit of sharing music I like with my friends, I'm sharing it here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dBXL1ueAlY

I read up on it a little bit.  According to Wikipedia, the song's composer, John Bucchino "never had music lessons of any sort. He does not read music, and he taught himself to play the piano by ear."

"He composes at the piano and makes cassette tapes which he gives to friends. For years, those amateur Bucchino tapes have been legendary among insiders in the music business, as singers and song-writers passed them around to each other with words of glowing praise." This was how he came to the attention of both Stephen Sondheim and Stephen Schwartz.

Bucchino seems to be one of those people, and I think their number is large, who has hovered just on the edge of a show business big breakthrough that would lead to fame and wealth.

The piece was written for a short musical theater work, in which this song of gratitude is to be sung by a man dying of AIDS.  I have found that the song is challenging me to try to be thankful even during this time of the pandemic.

If you like the song, I'll be pleased.  But de gustibus non est disputandum.  So if this song isn't to your taste, or isn't speaking to your moment, I'd be grateful if, in the comments, you'd provide a link to a song that is your song for now.