This is the second consecutive article that I am starting with reference to the harsh nature of winter. This time I must mention the “cold and flu season.” As we move through a season in which medical professionals are mentioning the severe nature of this year’s flu, let us all be careful to practice healthy behaviors when in public.

      I begin by mentioning the following: it is not a sin to miss Mass because you are sick. It is not even a sin if you are elderly or in a vulnerable health condition to miss Mass if you do not want to be exposed to others who are sick. These are examples of the Christian virtue of prudence. We do well to protect the health of others and our own health by making decisions that limit our or others’ exposure to illness, especially colds and flu. These illnesses are particularly hard on the elderly or those with chronic health conditions. So, please be prudent.

      What I have said I am also trying to follow. As I write this article I am emerging from a fight with the stomach flu. In the past they called it the “24-hour flu.” It has been 36 hours and I still feel wiped out. As you know, it develops quickly and the misery which accompanies this kind of flu is profound. I was nearly imprisoned in my bedroom, near my bathroom, for 12 hours. As I write I am still a bit weak and I am grateful to Fr. Jack MacCarthy who came to inform me that he would preside at the noon Mass today and hear confessions. I was prepared to do both, but in some way I was not being prudent (see above). May you all be spared this illness, and if you are not spared, be prudent!

      Another caution for this time of year: please be careful as you walk on snowy, slippery, and wet surfaces. Every year I hear of people slipping and falling on ice or snow, some of whom are injured very badly. There are some very good instructions and graphic available about how to walk “like a penguin.” The key is to keep your weight over the foot and leg which is striding. Our normal stride is to extend the leg and foot and thus keep the weight on the back, non-striding leg, and that is when we slip. Be safe! Be prudent!

Peace, Fr. Andy