I have been reminded this week that, even with a healthy respect for science and medicine, there is still a lot of personal judgement that goes into how we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything ends up being a balance, where one approach might be safer than another, but we might decide that a slightly heightened risk is worth the benefits of an alternate approach. It was, after all, safer to shut down every business, but opening the economy up in controlled ways was worth the increased risk. It is, after all, still safer to have our groceries delivered than to go inside a store, but many of us decide that the additional risk is not so much that it makes a difference to us. It is, after all, safer to keep children at home than to send them to school, but our parish has decided that we can still keep our students relatively safe and that the benefits of in-person instruction outweigh the potential risks.
Now that we have a better understanding of how COVID-19 spreads, we are better able to manage these risks (with masks, distancing, etc.) even if we can never altogether eliminate them; and each of us is now faced with personal decisions about how much risk we are willing to take for the sake of a perceived good. Is it worth it to travel, for example, to see family out of state? Are we willing to see our elderly relatives (outdoors and socially distanced), even though there is always a chance of spreading a disease that could harm them? Are they willing to see us? When is the right time to come back to Mass?
Again, these are all very personal decisions, based on everyone’s own life context. Just know that we are all having to face these difficult balances, and you should not feel guilty if you are slightly overwhelmed by trying to navigate life in this ever-changing world.
Fr. Moore 