Priest Stopped From Giving Last Rights Because of COVID Hospital Rules
A hospital in Marietta, Ohio refused to allow Fr. Josh Erickson to give last rights to a dying patient because of hospital COVID rules.
The hospital has since changed their policy, but only after and because of this homily that was given on November 22nd, 2020.
Listen to the entire homily at the link above or scroll down to view various quotes and video clips on the dangers of secularism, the importance of keeping religion in the public square, and honoring Jesus as Christ the King.
Father Josh D. Erickson
Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio
Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption
Marietta, OH
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The Dangers of Secularism
“Secularism has a wonderful way of getting Christians to act as if Christ isn't king
while still thinking that they're good Christians.
How does it do this?
Because what secularism claims and what it pushes and what it enforces without question is that
religion is all well and good but you should keep it a private affair.
Religion and Jesus are good things if that floats your boat,
but do not bring that into the public square.
The public square, and where everyone else operates and ideas are exchanged,
that is the place for politics.
And politics is the ultimate authority, not religion.
That's what the ideology says.
And part of the reason it's so dangerous is because
if where as Catholics, we accept that and believe it,
we can think we're being good Catholics, but really, Christ is no longer King.
Christ is - you know - the guy who's shut up in the closet,
Christ is kept in the privacy of our own thoughts and of our own homes and of our own hearts,
but he's not reining in the exchange of ideas or in the public square.”
Governments are Unfairly Placing COVID Restrictions on Religions Gatherings
“But what is clear to anyone who has two eyes is that in whatever responses we have had to the Coronavirus
there is a double standard when it comes to practice of faith.
And that is a big problem.
How is it that in the eight months of the Coronavirus...
How is it that in San Francisco, you're allowed to go to bars and strip clubs,
but the cathedral for Catholics that seats over 2,000 people
can only seat one member at a time praying or you're breaking the law?
And how does that make any sort of sense?
It doesn't. Right?
How come we had um, protests...
(and I'm not getting into it what one way or the other what side you come down on.)
...but we had protests that were against racism and against police brutality
and through the actions of certain individuals or organizations,
how come we saw all across the country...
how quickly some of those things turned into an excuse to decapitate statues of saints like St. Junipero Serra,
and statues of the Sacred Heart and statues of the Blessed Mother,
decapitate them, cover them in red paint and spray swastikas on the side of church buildings.
How does that in any way relate to police brutality or racism?
It doesn't.
It's an excuse for the powers of this age to try to shut down the gospel.
And to try to claim that Christ is not King.
That's what's going on. And it needs to be called out.
And it needs to end and to stop.”
Priest Stopped From Giving Last Rights Because of Coronavirus Hospital Rules
“And when I showed up, um, long story short,
I was told, I could not visit the man and anoint him,
because the hospital policy was that
only one visitor per person per day,
and the man has already had his visitor
so his priest cannot come and anoint him.
Needless to say, I was not happy.
Um, well, I realized after a bit of conversation that I wasn't getting anywhere.
And so I asked, "Okay.
Well, then how about if I come back tomorrow morning and I can be the one visitor for the guy, and give him the sacraments?"
To which the nurse replied "Well...",
in a nicer way, but essentially, what she said was,
"...there's really no need, because he'll be dead by then."
I was very not happy.
Um, now, fortunately, through the grace of God,
what did happen is I did go back the next day,
and he had survived through the night and was moved out of the ER.
So I was able to visit him and anoint him.
And now he is with Jesus and our blessed Lord,
sent on his way with the sacraments, praise God.
However, that might not have been the case.
And what I want to bring this up, is that I'm not trying to start a fight over whether to take the Coronavirus seriously or not or anything like that.
That's, that's a discussion for another place.
What I am saying is that as Catholics and as people of faith,
we need to have our eyes open to a double standard in the response.
It's not - it makes no sense that we can go
to restaurants and bars, or even strip clubs
that we can exercise or we can go to sport games.
And yet, a priest can't hear a dying man's confession.
That makes no sense whatsoever.
And what it is, is it's diabolical,
and it's a direct attack on Christ as King.
Keep your faith in your own personal house,
but don't bring it out to our hospital.
Keep your faith in your own personal house,
but don't bring it out to the public square.”
"Don't take (Coronavirus) precautions in a way that's a double standard with your faith."
...Don't take (Coronavirus) precautions in a way that's a double standard with your faith.
If in taking precautions against the Coronavirus,
you have deemed it too dangerous to come to church,
but you go out to the restaurant,
then what you're doing is you're saying "Fear is more important than the Eucharist."
If you think it's okay to work out,
if you're going out to sports games,
then what you're saying is
"That is worth the risk,
but the Eucharist is not."
Don't live that standard.
Because if you do, you don't have to answer to me,
you can answer to the one who separates the sheep from the goats.
Because the king will ask you "Why?" one day. He will.
So keep that in your mind.
We can't live the double standard in our lives.
You know if if it's if it's okay, if it's worth the risk to attend a political protest
or a political rally, whether on the left or on the right, it makes no difference,
But it's not worth the risk to come to mass, then we've really got our priorities mixed up.
Because what that's saying is that our politics is on the throne and that's King,
But the Eucharist in Jesus is not.
Wherever he lines up,
he's not the ultimate authority.
And as Catholics, we can't stand for that.
We can't live that double standard, because this is also what it leads to.
I'm going to close I'm going to close just briefly with this.
Let's remember that one of the things Christ mentioned in our gospel was
"You were ill, and you did not care for me.
You were sick and you did not care for me.”
Why?
“Because whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."
Last Sunday, that 85 year old man wasn't just the only one
who was laying in the hospital being refused to be ministered to.
Jesus Christ himself was.
And we cannot stand for it as Catholics.
God bless you.