75 days

In his homily our parochial vicar criticized the people who haven't come back to Mass after the shut downs.  He implied that they were lazy sinners. He was right to an extent  but didn't our bishops go right along with the shutdowns? With a few exceptions the only priests I saw doing outside Masses were SSPX. Most of the Faithful  including the weak,  the foolish,  and the isolated were set adrift. For 75 days we couldn't even go unmasked into an empty church for private prayer without being threatened with arrest by the parish priest or a parish staffer.  I've read many heartbreaking stories of people who wrote about how they begged their parish priest to come give a loved one Last Rites during the shutdown and were rejected. We were all told that watching Mass on TV, Facebook or You Tube was good enough and those who mourned the loss of the Mass were called neurotic and selfish.

Even when the civil authorities allowed us to return to Mass, depending on where you lived, the restrooms were closed. Think of all the adults who need to visit the restroom before or after Mass because of age-related or some chronic physical  condition. All these people had to choose between staying away from their parish or risk soiling themselves in public. Even porta-pottys were locked.  How about an apology for abandoning the flock? That YouTube Mass didn't cut it. Frankly, as I sat in the pew and heard Father, I was pissed.