Covid-19 Results Increasing… Live by The Gospel
By time you read this article we will know more about how fast COVID-19 cases are increasing in Brown County and Wisconsin. The number of positive tests and hospitalizations have been on the rise. The Delta variant seems to be the prime cause, but the prevalence of non-vaccinated people who are getting infected is also a factor.
As the Green Bay Diocese ends the dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation, we all will do well to continue to pay attention to our personal and public health. The Diocese recommends that we continue to follow CDC guidelines with regard to personal hygiene and wearing masks. Large groups of people, inside a building, who are unable to maintain 3 feet of physical distance, are wise to wear masks for each other’s protection. We have many children at some of our Masses, of whom many are under 12 years of age and thus, not vaccinated. We must respect their well-being.
You will see that the priest distributing communion and Communion Ministers wear masks. People of every age and with different strengths and vulnerabilities approach them to receive communion. That encounter is within a 3-foot distance. We will continue to use this practice out of respect for the diverse needs and personal decisions that people have made.
As of this writing, 61.5 % of adults are fully vaccinated in Brown County, and 52.1% of all residents. Surrounding counties are at much lower percentages of residents vaccinated – Kewaunee 42%, Oconto 43.4%, and Shawano 38.3%. As people move about their lives, they are crossing the paths of many people for whom the possibility of being infected or getting infected remains high. Let us be careful!
On another note, I wish to thank you all for the attention you gave to our mission preachers – Fr. Mike Seis, Deacon Paul Umentum and our own Deacon Luis Sanchez. They offered us an important message about the Green Bay Diocese mission in Elias Piña, Dominican Republic, not far from the border with Haiti. But, they also raised our awareness about the importance of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ to all people. The ministries of dedicated missionaries and local collaborators bring about important changes for people. People of all parts of the world deserve a good education, clean water to drink, hygienic sewer systems and latrines, and of course, sturdy and dignified housing to live in. When such conditions are in place, people hear and live by the Gospel with much greater success. They discover the love and charitable motives of those involved in ministry are rooted in Jesus’s preaching and teaching.
Peace, Fr. Andy