A letter from a nurse

Earlier this week, when Cardinal Cupich suspended all public masses across the Chicago Archdiocese, the edict wasn't universally well-received.  I get looped into many emails from many quarters across the archdiocese and beyond, and I'm aware that that are clergy and laypersons who don't agree with the decision.  And so I saw emails from various quarters indicating that there were priests who were planning to disregard the order.  To some extent, I can sympathize with that point of view: depriving people of the Eucharist (which is the unintended consequence of the cardinal's decision) is a very serious thing.

But a pandemic which kills vulnerable people also is a very serious matter.  Nobody is more acutely aware of the public health crisis than those who deliver medical services.  So when a nurse, with whom I have some mutual friends, got wind that a pastor in our local suburban area was going to continue to celebrate public masses this weekend, she wrote him a letter.  With her permission, I'm pasting it here.  I've edited it very lightly to protect the anonymity of those involved.  Here it is:

Dear (pastor's name withheld), 

I was asked to send an email informing choir members of mass suspensions from the Archdiocese of Chicago.  I read the press briefing and sent it to our members.  I now have lectors and EMs telling me there is mass at the parish this weekend.  

I am not a panicky person, I work with the most critically ill in the ICU, I’m a trained Ebola responder, and now a trained COVID-19 responder.

 Not only is this [decision to have mass this weekend] in direct opposition to the instructions put out by the Archdiocese, it is a public health risk.  I know in times of struggle and disaster we seek solace in our faith communities.  It is a well intentioned but potentially life threatening action.There are other ways to meet in and pray during these times. 

I am asking as a frontline critical care nurse, parishioner, and daughter of two elderly faithful members of your community; to fully suspend ALL Masses and service.  I am personally urging you to seek the wisdom of the CDC, Illinois Department of Public Health, and the Archdioceses here and around the world. 

You can help the faithful do the right thing and protect themselves and others.  Strong, steady, commonsense leadership is needed in times like these.  It is only for a little while. The only way to slow the spread of the disease is to limit the contact people have with each other.  We serve some of the most vulnerable populations and age group.  Our area is already a known area for this virus as is the city of Chicago.  Many are already carrying the disease and unknowingly will spread it to possibly vulnerable people. 

The hospital system cannot handle a surge of the potential magnitude seen in other countries of critically ill people.   We are limited in nursing staff and supplies.  The goal of social distancing is to slow the rate of spread of disease so we can handle the severely ill patients at the hospital.
Please do the right thing for the parishioners and volunteers of the parish community and suspend ALL mass as directed.

(Name withheld) 

Pastors get emails and letters from parishioners every week.  Not all of them are positive; many of them criticize this or gripe about that.  One of the necessary characteristics of any pastor is to have a thick skin, because no initiative ever will get off the ground if those who disagree are allowed to prevail.  Perhaps some folks who are reading this have had the experience of carefully and prayerfully crafting a missive to a pastor, only to have it ignored.

It is in that spirit that I find what happened next so unexpected and grace-filled: within a half-hour of the nurse sending the email reproduced above, she received the following response:

Done.  We will follow the Archdiocesan mandates.  NO MASSES (weekend and weekday) from this point on until further notice from the Archdiocese.

If one of the consequences of this extraordinary time is that pastors begin listening to their parishioners, then perhaps some good will come out of this crisis.