Our Pastor's Message at a Difficult Time

Using faith and reason, the church must be more visible than ever, to fight virus of fear

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The last month and a half has been difficult for all of us. The pandemic through which we are living has given rise to loneliness, anxiety, fear, even panic. And as the weeks in quarantine continue, we see more and more people in despair. It is precisely in times like these that we see that the Church and the Sacraments are essential. We need them now more than ever to fight the virus of fear.

Of course, it’s important to be prudent in this time of pandemic and to follow the proper guidelines to prevent its spread and protect the most vulnerable. What we cannot do is fall into fear. There is this sense in our culture that says, “I need to watch my own back. I need to watch out for my own. The other is not my neighbor. The other is an enemy, a risk.” It’s a mentality that comes from fear, and fear is a bad counselor. When we are afraid, we don’t use reason. Instead, the Church invites us to use faith and reason together. As Pope Saint John Paul II told us in an encyclical letter in 1998 “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, September 14, 1998). Reason without faith, without abandoning yourself to God, without Christ, is not a good way to reason at all. We need to reason with faith.

Through faith and reason, we can see that to only look out for myself and to consider the other the enemy is hell. True happiness is giving our life for the other. While we are closed in on ourselves, looking out only for ourselves, we cannot see the suffering of the other. How many youth are spending these days mindlessly on their phones? How many people are suffering from loneliness at this time? How many people are turning to alcohol, drugs, pornography, and even suicide? This is why it is essential that the Church does not close, does not stop providing the Sacraments, does not stop going out to tell the people, “Do not be afraid.”

The Church is called to salt the world. If we remain in fear, comfortably locked indoors, who will salt the earth? The Church needs to be more visible as an agent of rebuilding and restoring the spiritual health of the people. The Church needs to help society return to normalcy. That’s why we are here, we are open, we are going out, we are in mission, we are not retreating, we are not stopping, we are not running away, we are not afraid, we are taking this pandemic with faith and with reason.

I was very touched this past week by the many things going on at Queen of Peace to live out its mission. Last Saturday, I joined a small group of parishioners to pray for and sing songs outside the nursing home window of a brother in their community with Alzheimer’s. On Tuesday, I witnessed a brave group of Friends of St. Andrew volunteers cooking and distributing twice the amount of meals they normally would, for our brothers and sisters in need. On Thursday and Friday, I answered questions and shared with many the excitement of our new parish center - a missionary parish center, for loving and serving the other. What we’re doing is building a project of faith that overcomes fear and that will be more important after this pandemic than ever before!

In today’s situation, stores are considered essential. Liquor stores are considered essential. Marijuana dispensaries are considered essential. Yet, we’re implicitly being taught that the Church is not essential, that the sacraments are not necessary. The Church cannot be considered non-essential, or irrelevant. The Church has a very important mission, and that’s why we need to open our doors. We are deciding together whether we want to put the Church in the corner and think only with fear or be thinking with faith and reason together.

Soon, we will resume public Masses. The Archdiocese of Denver has already published an article describing what we can expect when that happens: limited attendance, social distancing, etc. We will let you know how we will move forward at Queen of Peace as soon as we receive guidelines from the archdiocese.

In Christ,

Father Felix P. Medina-Algaba