Points to Ponder - Corona Easter Time

The coronavirus continues. I suppose in six months from now I will be writing the same thing: The coronavirus continues... Lent has been good. It's always good. The added desolation this year is fitting. It's more the Easter, or lack of pomp and circumstances surrounding Easter, that I fear. But more to that later.

1) Coronatime?
I was a little shocked to see that Corona, the watered-down beer which has reached billions of people in free advertising of late, is pausing production. It's not their fault, of course. The Mexican government has shut down all non-essential products. Beer not essential? It sure is in Canada! But not the Eucharist, of course.

2) Grocery Stores
I don't get it. No yeast or flour. No toilet paper or spaghetti sauce. Hit and miss with the meat and potatoes. Where is all the food going? 

3) Seniors
The seniors continue to be out and about in our town. Someone told me that many do not like our approach to the coronavirus. The reason being is that they don't want their grandchildren to be devastated (economically, mentally) for years and years after this has passed. They would rather meet an earlier end than destroy the lives of their grandchildren. You have to respect that.

4) Seniors pt. II
My wife was wondering about all the seniors who get no visitors. "They must be so lonely!" Yes, I'll bet they are. But I replied that the seniors are probably doing far better in isolation than all of the millennials who are addicted to technology. I know that technology is morally neutral, however, staying inside with nothing but technology can lead you to a dark place in a hurry. 

5) Narnia - Always winter, never Christmas
Last week was very cold. This week is still cold, and very snowy. Next week will be more of the same. There is no respite from winter here. I think of Narnia, where it was "always winter and never Christmas." Only it seems like it will be always winter and never Easter this year.

6) Quote
I was looking at the snow, and then joked with our 3 year old Emilie - "Merry Christmas!"
"No dad," she replied, "Merry Lent!!!"

7) Easter?
I will finally get to my main point. That is, Easter has the potential of being an emotional downer this year. And I say that knowing that we should not base our faith on emotions.
But it's happened before. The downer comes from not being able to experience an uplifting Easter Sunday Mass. We've been stuck at home before (hospital, weather, miscarriage) and have had to endure our local parish, versus driving 2.5 hours to a Latin Mass. The Easters we've been stuck home have been hard, to put it lightly. After 40 days of fasting... you get a punch in the gut. But lest I feel sorry for myself, I should just read the Good Friday reproaches.

8) Easter continued...
The point is that even though we are stuck at home, Easter must have a tangible and uplifting experience, especially if you have children! Watching a service on TV is just not going to suffice. At our home we still watch the occasional Mass live-streamed, but this is not part of our actual prayer time. For that, we do the dry Mass approach (we use the Angelus Press 1962 missal), and try to use as many tangible items as possible: candles, holy water, bells, etc. 

9) Bugnini-itis
But the dry Mass does raise other questions. For instance, we all become our own Bugninis (Bugnini was the evil architect who creatively destroyed the continuity between the traditional Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo). We are now forced to revise and edit the Mass and prayers according to our own needs (or whims). 

Last night we decided to do Tenebrae. Obviously we didn't want to simply watch it. Nor did we want to chant our own for 90 minutes (with four little kids). So we lit 15 candles and prayed a rosary. After each decade we listened to some of Allegri's Miserere Mei Deus while each of the three oldest kids blew out a candle. After the last decade, we blew out two candles (music playing) and then I took the final large candle in and out of the room (symbolizing Christ will return). I blew out the final candle and stopped the music. The kids banged books loudly at that moment (symbolizing Christ beating death). Needless to say, they loved it all, and we will be doing it again tonight. Though nothing replaces a live service, children (all of us, really) need our senses involved with the faith (a further knock against Bugnini, by the way). 

10) Signing Off
I will sign off now. Good Friday is approaching (also Becca and my 10th anniversary!... party time... yeah right).

A blessed Triduum to all of you dear readers. "See" you on the other side of things!