{"id":4289,"date":"2020-12-03T19:45:05","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T19:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=4289"},"modified":"2020-12-05T00:17:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T00:17:08","slug":"eucharistic-adoration-and-social-distancing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/eucharistic-adoration-and-social-distancing\/","title":{"rendered":"Eucharistic Adoration and Social Distancing"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

I was at the Eucharistic Adoration chapel yesterday, and the week before. Nothing unusual there. What was different about week before yesterday was that I left early.<\/p>\n

I’d arrived a half-hour early, again nothing unusual. It’s not that I’m so pious that I can’t wait to go. I’d reached a stopping point in what I was writing, and figured that showing up early was a good idea.<\/p>\n

Which it would have been, if we hadn’t had new rules.<\/p>\n

I’d logged in when I noticed something new.<\/p>\n

A sign on the door said that our bishop, in compliance with new Minnesota COVID-19 regulations, was limiting the chapel to two persons at a time.<\/p>\n

I looked through glass beside the doors and saw two folks already inside.<\/p>\n

So I waited a half-hour, getting a little reading done. The other person who’s scheduled to be there during my hour showed up.<\/p>\n

The two other folks were still inside.<\/p>\n

I had a short conversation with my counterpart, said that my easiest option was turning around and going out, and did so. After signing out, with a short note that I was leaving early in order to follow our rules.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to Sunday. During announcements at Mass, our priest mentioned the new rules and clarified that scheduled adorers had priority. He phrased it more diplomatically, but that’s the gist.<\/p>\n

I dropped by the chapel on Tuesday, to get a photo of the sign. There was a new one. Two new signs, actually, one in English and the other in Spanish. The text had been updated.<\/p>\n

A mother and elementary-school-age kid were kneeling before glass to the right of the doors, since there were folks already in the chapel. With a duo right there, next to the chapel’s doors, I decided to photograph the pair of signs on an ‘outside’ door.<\/p>\n

<\/a>New Rules, Making Sense During a Pandemic<\/h4>\n

\"St.<\/a>Someone else was there when I showed up yesterday, kneeling outside the glass.<\/p>\n

Someone else was kneeling, outside the glass, I mean. That’s a syntactic mess. Oh, well.<\/p>\n

This Wednesday, yesterday, knowing the new rules, I arrived only a few minutes before my scheduled time.<\/p>\n

Two other folks, the scheduled set, were inside. They left when my counterpart and I arrived. We left when the next scheduled adorer came. We’re adjusting to a new routine.<\/p>\n

I’d prefer that we didn’t have new rules, limiting how many folks are in the chapel at any given time. There’ve been maybe up to a half-dozen drop-ins most weeks, besides me and my counterpart.<\/p>\n

I’d also prefer that the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t a reality we should deal with.<\/p>\n

But my preferences won’t change the rules, and they sure won’t make the SARS-CoV-2 virus go away. So I’ll follow the rules, do what I reasonably can to stay healthy and help others do the same, and maintain the routines that do make sense during a pandemic.<\/p>\n

I’ve talked about this before. “These” before?? Never mind.<\/p>\n