how many's father Mike Smits and this is
essentially since we are living in crazy
times this is the special coronavirus
edition quarantine edition
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okay little story last week the
university that I work at was on spring
break and so I had the chance to lead
about 38 of our students including some
students from other colleges to Israel
to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage gosh we
was we were so excited but before we
took off we knew that the coronavirus
had at least one case I think it was one
case in Israel Israel and so it was like
well how do we go do we not go whose
gamble right and so every one of our
pilgrims had the opportunity to say no
to say like you know I know I've been
planning on this but saving up for this
but I have to admit I'm not gonna go
they all said they wanted to go so we
went well we landed in Israel and that
very day Israel declared that the
borders would be more or less closed to
everyone incoming that upcoming Thursday
and this was Sunday this up when we
Thursday unless you were a citizen or
unless you were willing to be
quarantined for 14 days and so we
thought oh my gosh what are we gonna do
if there aren't any flights coming in
that there probably won't be any flights
going out oh my gosh will our plane even
be able to take off and go back to the
states and like I don't know we don't
know so immediately like our tour
company started like sprung into action
tried to get tickets for us and so we
meanwhile we're doing a pilgrimage we're
doing our trip right we got three days
we had basically a long weekend in the
Holy Land because late I think it must
have been
Tuesday night like 12:30 in the morning
Tuesday couldn't say you know I got it's
knock on my door it was like hey you
have to be downstairs in the lobby
in ten minutes because there's a shuttle
to the airport you have to be on a plane
a couple hours and that was it I mean I
was the trip was done it like walkin
from a deep sleep to like racing to the
airport to get to catch this flight took
a flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul
waited there for a few hours took the
longest flight of my life from Istanbul
to Los Angeles and then waited there for
a couple days because not all of our
group got to leave at the same time we
were divided up into three different
rupes because they couldn't get a block
of seats on a flight for 38 people at
the same time and then finally was
coming coming to get back to Minnesota
we flew from LA to Chicago from Chicago
to Minneapolis and then drove from
Minneapolis to up to Duluth here where I
live in the middle then I got here I
think at like 2:30 3 o'clock in the
morning it was so interesting because
the whole time it was like well should
we get on the plane or should we risk it
should we gamble and like you know maybe
our flight will take off because here's
what happened that afternoon the
originally scheduled flight from Tel
to Washington DC that I was gonna take
to get back to the States
took off as scheduled which one looks
like oh my god I'm so glad actually I'm
really grateful that I didn't have to be
the one to make the calls right I didn't
have any responsibility I had no like
decision-making power whatsoever it was
all to the tour company all up to the
group that was kind of sponsoring us I
was just the chaplain I was there to say
okay I'll help along the way whatever
you choose I will do what I can
I will do it I can that's it but it's
easy at the on the ground is easy to say
why are they doing this you know why are
they giving these flights why what are
we waiting till the end of the thing
because it's it's so easy in the midst
of this whole coronavirus stuff in the
midst of what hears that the government
is doing here's what the bishops are set
are saying it is so stinkin easy for us
to be armchair quarterbacks like it's so
easy for us to be Monday morning critics
right today because what do we have we
have the luxury of being able to
criticize we have the luxury of being
critics because whatever they do
whatever the bishops decide whatever the
government you know that with declaring
that you know restaurants shouldn't be
serving with declaring that you know
gyms aren't open places of public
gathering more than ten or twenty five
or twenty fifty people whatever the
thing is can't can't happen like it's
easy for us to sit back and say that's
an overreaction like it's easy for us to
be critics we have the luxury of being
critics because we don't have the
responsibility of having to make a
decision and again I've heard so many
people criticize the bishops who are
saying you know we're not gonna have
masses but publicly the saying they're
being cowardly like well I don't know or
other bishops who are like having we're
having more masses that they're being
foolish like I don't I don't know that
they are I'm not sure that the bishops
who are just heating the recommendations
of like you know biologists are being
cowardly I think they're being wise I
don't know if the bishops who are saying
we're having more prayer and more masses
are being foolish maybe they're relying
on the Lord I think that it would be
wise maybe just not even charitable but
like wise for us to say okay I'm gonna
do two things I want to be grateful that
I don't have the responsibility of
making the decision because I don't know
what I would choose because
it's not just my life right I mean
you're a bishop it's not just your life
it's not just this handful of people
it's every soul in your diocese you're
having to make a decision about and yes
you might survive something like this
but what if you made a decision that
even cost the life of one person that
would be that be a hard responsibility
to have and so maybe safe than sorry
right so be grateful and secondly you
pray for them like intercede on their
behalf and not only on their behalf this
is this is the thing with all of this
like in and having quarantine and having
like restricted lives our sphere of
interest is like massive right like I
want to know I want to know why the
bishops saying this why the government
say this or who's doing what our spirit
of interest is massive but he we have to
understand our sphere of interest almost
always outstrips vastly outstrips our
sphere of influence there our sphere of
interest what what I want to know about
what I want to weigh in on what I want
to criticize sometimes even vastly
outstrips far outstrips my sphere of
influence like what I actually can do
right now in this kind of a situation
what can i what can I do not just what
can I criticize what can I do not just
how I can complain or point out where
someone else has done something wrong or
what I disagree with what can I do what
is my sphere of influence and maybe all
I can do is I can wash my hands and I
can pray maybe that's all I can do but
maybe what I can do is I can wash my
hands and I can pray and I can reach out
to that person
who lives down the street but even
giving him a phone call or even just
kind of stopping by after that I can
have social distancing I can you know we
can we can level out the of the curve
right at the same time like how about to
paying attention to our sphere of
influence rather than living in this
place of sphere of interest because
there's people in your life there's
people in my life right now that I
actually can be in contact with like I
can be in contact with them through the
phone I'm in contact with them through
FaceTime or Skype or or even maybe even
in person who knows why don't want to do
that it's a luxury to be able to be a
critic and it is a massive
responsibility to have make a decision
three things one is I want it like make
a note quick of like how serious this is
it what I mean by that is I know that
illness is a real thing and I know that
some people you already were listening
or watching this you already have people
maybe you've gotten sick maybe someone
you love has already died maybe you've
lost someone that's massively important
I know with the stuff about like
restaurants closing and other kind of
small businesses are being massively
incredibly affected they that's your
livelihood you're in the service
industry like so affected if you work in
hospitals or in clinics and just like
having to go to work and saying like
what am i doing in this moment I'm
exposing my my friends and my family
because I have to go to work I have to
take care of people just please know
that what I can do is I can pray for you
and I am praying for you
because that's that's a big deal that's
a big deal
it's really some people it's like it's a
little kind of a break kind of a little
adventure others is how am I gonna pay
my bills now how am I making how can I
make sure that my family is safe and I
completely understand that I get that
not to worry not to give in to fear but
to lean forward to move ahead
second thing is some people ask the
question of like is this is this as a
part of God's like punishment is this is
this because we're being faithless you
know we're a faithless nation or a
faithless world pay those people is this
is this God's divine judgment and I
would say I don't know if I would say
this I say that whenever something likes
what happened in the Old Testament the
people would take that as a sign of they
need to repent so whether this is a
divine judgment or not it's not mine to
figure out whether this is an
opportunity to repent and change my life
and come back to the Lord that that is
this is that that is what this is you
know make sense and last thing is is
this is is I know people are saying but
how can I live without the Eucharist you
don't have to live it off the Eucharist
we have they don't have public masses
anywhere in my diocese they already
canceled those things in my dice he's
like okay I that we painful that would
be painful
but I don't know if they have they
closed the doors of your church like you
can go visit the Blessed Sacrament right
maybe you can't in which case I
understand sometimes we'll do this to
drive over to the church park there
it's tested outside it's got the gutters
big tabernacle that could be opportunity
you know the universal that the prayer
of the church is called the Liturgy of
the hours and the prayer that that every
priest promises to pray every single day
is not the mass although it's good for
every priest to pray the masses at least
once a day the prayer that we promise to
pray is the Liturgy of the hours morning
prayer daytime prayer evening prayer
night prayer and then with the thing
called the office of readings you say I
don't know how to do that or not get to
the store and buy this expensive book of
how to pray all these prayers you don't
have to go to your App Store and get go
to I bri-bri i BR e VI a ry I bravery
it's my favorite I briefly has all the
prayers in there and when you pray them
you're uniting yourself you're uniting
your prayers with the prayer of the
church because that's the liturgy ours
is the prayer of the church in all of
this there's no need for fear there's no
need for anxiety there's no need to a
criticism what we need is we need
gratitude we need to intercede you need
to do what we can now we can we need to
pay attention to our sphere of influence
not just our sphere of interest and we
can pray we can always pray even if
church doors are closed we have full
access to the father's heart in Jesus
Christ our Lord so pray be grateful and
cover your mouth when you cough
for almost zero sense presents my name
is Paulo Mike god bless
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