Proclaim a Solemn Assembly

Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy ^ | 3/19/2020 | Rev. Dr. D.R. Stuckwisch

[Fester Chugabrew]

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve heard various friends and colleagues express their suspicions regarding the timing of the Coronavirus pandemic, surfacing as it has in the midst of this election year. Some have suggested that the virus may have been manufactured and deliberately released, whereas others have felt that the whole situation has been hyped and overblown for the purpose of undermining President Trump’s administration. To be sure, sadly but not at all surprisingly, there are surely many people attempting to politicize the pandemic to their own advantage.

I’ve had my own cynical suspicions along these lines, especially early on. But for the past week or two, as the serious potential of this pandemic has become more clear, I have found the timing to be poignant and significant in quite a different way. Here in the United States the emergence and development of the virus have coincided with the Season of Lent. And as the restrictions on public gatherings and groups of people have gotten tighter, to the point that many churches have suspended services to varying degrees (along with many other ancillary activities), the words of the Prophet Joel with which Lent began on Ash Wednesday keep echoing in my mind:

[Fester Chugabrew]

I have the blessed privilege of serving alongside Pastor Stuckwisch in a small Lutheran parish in South Bend, Indiana. He has a way of articulating matters that comports well what we have received from Above.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Tell him I said “Hi!”

Signed - I’m Still Subscribed to CAT41

[Fester Chugabrew]

Ha! Will do. God bless!

[cloudmountain]

Pastor Stuckwisch has it right. I hadn’t thought of the virus in connection with Lent.