Wearing a mask displays true love of neighbor

By Archbishop Gregory Aymond

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us into a new way of life that has brought fears and uncertainty. Has it brought blessings?

    • More time with family.

   • A deeper appreciation of the need to trust in God.

    • A vision to see our own needs and the needs of others.

    • Hungers: Some for the next meal; also the hunger to be with others, thus appreciating family and others at a different level.

    • Hunger for the Eucharist.

   • More free time to pray and reflect – this has even led some to think of a deeper meaning to life and their vocation.

    We have many questions:

    • There are many fears.

    • What are some of the blessings God sent me?

    • How can I keep those blessings/attitudes alive beyond COVID-19?

    Every aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been perplexing. Not only has an invisible enemy taken the lives of more than 125,000 people in the United States, but it also has forced millions of Americans into unemployment and created a firestorm of fear and anxiety about the future.

    Who is next? What is next?

    Only God knows.

    In the meantime, as we go about our daily lives trying to love God and love our neighbor, it is important that we do everything we can on a personal level to keep our part of the world as safe as possible during this global plague. We need only look at the spike in the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations since the loosening of social-distancing restrictions in some parts of the country to understand that we need to do our part to be good neighbors to each other.

    There are far too many unknowns about the virus itself, but this much we do know: Wearing a mask in public and keeping a safe distance from those outside of our immediate household are true “acts of charity” toward our neighbor.

    Wearing a mask in public – and certainly at Sunday Mass – is a small act of charity and may well save lives. This is a question much more about care than about fear.

    There is virtually no scientific disagreement that wearing a mask reduces the possibility of dispersing into the air particles that may contain the virus and also reduces the possibility of inhaling any particles from another person.

    As we have seen, many people who are infected with coronavirus are asymptomatic, which means they do not know they are sick and are capable of spreading the disease. Wearing a mask in public protects your neighbor in the grocery store, in the bank and in church.

    Admittedly, wearing a mask can be an irritation, but doing so is a small act of charity that we as Christians are called to offer out of love for God and neighbor. Far from being a sign of weakness, wearing a mask is a sign of strength, selfless love and prudence.

    In the Archdiocese of New Orleans, I’ve been humbled to see so many people spread out in church for Mass, wearing masks, and taking every precaution to keep a safe distance from each other. I’ve asked priests and extraordinary ministers of holy Communion to sanitize their hands and to wear masks as they give out the Eucharist. In an abundance of caution, we have asked Catholics to receive Communion in the hand and not on the tongue.

    Some may make the argument that public advisories to wear masks infringe on our constitutional rights. I would hope, however, that we would view caring for the public health – the common good – as acting, as Christ would, as a servant to others. We are caring for our friends.

    In New Orleans, masking takes on a meaning all its own during Carnival. We hide our faces behind masks to become someone else for a day. No one seems to complain that breathing through a mask on Mardi Gras is a bit odd and cumbersome. How much more important is it now to mask – when we’re talking not about a pair of beads but about a life.  

    We need to show we care. Please wash your hands. Please wear a mask. Please save a life.

    Look into your neighbor’s eyes, and a stranger’s eyes, with love.

    Archbishop Gregory Aymond may be reached at clarionherald@clarionherald.org.