Crossed The Tiber

An Evangelical Converts to Catholicism

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Location: Pennsylvania, United States

I was born into the Catholic faith. At 14, I was "born again" and found Jesus personally but lost His Church. After thirty years as an evangelical protestant, I have come full circle to find that He has been there all the time, in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I wish others to find the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith as I have found.

Monday, July 27, 2020

Would Jesus Wear a Mask?



As a medical doctor with over thirty years experience battling infectious diseases among the frail elderly, the recent "No Maskers" has me truly puzzled and disturbed. Yesterday , an individual on facebook posted quotes taken out of context from the New England Journal of Medicine to prove masks don't help prevent infection.  When I went to the original article and discovered it was a "Perspective" piece and not peer-reviewed research, I was truly saddened. The No Masker was so intent on pushing their agenda, they clipped  certain quotes out of context that supported their point of view and ignored many other points that supported the opposite view. Not to mention the piece was written for physicians back in May when information about  Covid 19 was still being discovered. They were writing in the context that universal mask wearing would endanger the supply of masks for health care workers directly exposed to known symptomatic patients with Covid in a hospital setting. This was the very reason that Dr. Fauci initially recommended that the public not wear masks!
   We now now from many recent experiential studies that masks, along with hand washing and social distancing indeed lower the transmission of Covid 19 and flatten the curve and ultimately prevent death. Countries that have mandated mask wearing having significantly less cases and death than the countries such as Sweden and the US and UK that have had a mixed message on masking for those venturing out in public.
   So if our dear Lord knew there was plague in Jerusalem and there was a chance he could spread the deadly pathogen and perhaps kill others, would he take precautions? He regularly ministered to the frail elderly, ill and clearly immuno-compromised folks. Yes this is a silly thought experiment, but think about the savior who gave all of himself to save all of us. Would he take the risk of endangering the mortal life of eternal souls? In his three year ministry, he healed untold numbers of people of their physical, mental and spiritual ailments. Would he then not wear a mask to possibly prevent more illness and disease?
   Let us love one another. (Jesus)
 Let us treat others the way we would want to be treated.(Jesus)
 Let us defer to the weaker among us (St Paul) 
   If there is only a remote possibility that my wearing of a mask could prevent the spread of a potentially fatal virus, my reading of the gospels tells me that I should wear a mask when in the public space, until this plague abates.
   

WWJD?      He would wear a mask.

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