Quarantine may be lifted before the Ascension

Did you know the word quarantine means 40 days? It is derived from the Latin word for forty, quadraginta. So is its Spanish equivalent, cuarentena, and so is the Spanish word for Lent, Cuaresma. We spent most of the 40 days of Cuaresma under national cuarentena, which has been extended to May 15 at least. But here’s a thought; the Feast of the Ascension is May 21, forty days after Easter. And, if we cannot celebrate the lifting of the national quarantine on the final day of our Lord’s exaltation, there’s Pentecost on Sunday, May 31.

Our new confirmation class.

In that light, it is good to reflect on our Gospel reading for this fourth Sunday of Easter, John 16:16-23. In this chapter, Jesus tells His disciples that after His resurrection, they will see Him again for a time, but then He must return to the Father that the church might receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s power on Pentecost. After the Ascension, He will not be with them in visible form until He returns in glory. But He makes this promise: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” Times of trial and suffering which turn to joy in the end wll not only be the pattern of the church’s story until the Lord’s return, but also our lives on this earth until we are called home to heaven.

We also are conscious of what the Apostle Peter writes in Sunday’s epistle (1 Peter 2:11-20. “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.”

The current situation in Venezuela is hard to assess. There are many who think the official coronavirus count is much too good to be true. Nevertheless, no one in our immediate vicinity seems to be affected by the virus itself. All of us are dealing with the consequences of the plan to control its spread. No one is supposed to go out on the street without a facemask and must stay at least a meter apart in public places. Certain businesses may open for a few hours during the day.

As far as I know, there are no specific rules in regard to religious activities. Luz Maria and I, of course, can enter the chapel without going out into the street. If it came down to it, just the two of us could worship together (Matthew 18:20). But if we leave the doors open and people enter, the same people who come to us every day for food and water, shall we turn them away?

However, to show that we do respect the government’s efforts to control COVID-19, we are not offering weekly communion for the time being. Rather we follow the order of morning prayer. We did celebrate the Eucharist on Easter Sunday, and, God willing, we may do so again on Ascenscion Sunday or Pentecost. Please pray that Venezuela might be spared the worst of the pandemic as we pray for the whole world on Sunday and every day.

Luther's morning prayer by Karla Frias 

 

The bricks and mortar of the Church

A blessed Holy Week to everyone!

The numbers change daily, but as I write this, there have been165 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Venezuela, with seven deaths and 65 recoveries in a country with a population of 29 million people according to the last census. That figure probably is lower now with an estimated 4 to 5 million having fled to neighboring nations in the wake of Venezuela’s economic meltdown. Despite the borders with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana being closed, in theory, hundreds of Venezuelans have been making their way back home, because quarantine measures in other countries have left them without jobs and income to pay high rents. Since confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been much more numerous in these other countries, the returning Venezuelans are likely to have been exposed.

Nobody that we know has been stricken with the virus, much less died, but police are patrolling the streets of La Caramuca to make sure no one is on the street without a facemask, and that people maintain a proper distance in the food markets. Access to the city of Barinas has been restricted. The slaugherhouse, which is the major source of employment in La Caramuca, is still in operation, but with hours per week greatly reduced (agriculture is the major industry in our state, Barinas, with an emphasis in livestock production).

We suspended our annual Palm Sunday street procession and marked the first Sunday in Holy Week with the service of morning prayer. We always have celebrated the Eucharist every Sunday, but for the last two Sundays we have not. Since the communion service always includes the sharing of the peace, and morning prayer does not, we made this change to mimimize physical contact. I also am not greeting people at the door until it appears the worst of the pandemic has passed. The members of our small flock all see each other every other day of the week anyway, and we do not expect visitors until the crisis is over. If and when the virus appears in our surrounding community, it is unlikely that it will be spread through our Sunday morning gatherings. And the people continue to show up. But we will take some precautions.

Living stones

“You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:5

Sometimes it is said that the church is not a building, but people. Ŧo precise, it is ŧħe assembly of believers gathered around the Word of God preached in its purity and the sacraments administered according to the Lord’s command (Augsburg Confession, Article VII). Since the church on earth exists in three dimensions, and the living stones of the spiritual house are creatures of flesh and blood, and the sacraments consist of visible elements linked to God’s Word, this implies a physical place where God’s people meet. A house of brick and mortar (or whatever building material is available) that is an image of the spiritual house.

The preaching of the Word is proclamation, seed cast throughout the field (Matthew 13:3-23; Mark 4:3-20; Luke 8:4-15). It is broadcast to all who have ears to hear. So it makes sense to extend public preaching through a PA system, the radio, television or the Internet. But the sacraments are incarnational; the infinite is made finite in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The grace of God is made particular to each believer, but normally not to each believer in isolation, but in community. As the sacraments can be seen and touched, as the words of confession and absolutions must be heard, there must be a solid house of prayer and worship. The house of God’s people is God’s house, and its doors must be kept open for those who seek a place of refuge. Amen.