General Appeal of the Lay Faithful to Bishop David Walkowiak regarding Covid-19 restrictions

Most Reverend Bishop, hear us.

Our loving Father made us to be FREE:) To be courageous witnesses of His Love to all.

We have to sign up to go to Mass and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; as well as follow all the other restrictions. I am a retired RN and am 76 years old. I am not afraid of covid 19. What does scare me is being deprived of the dignity of being a human being made in the image and likeness of God. There is so much more to the human person than just physical aspects. Our bodies die ( we all do eventually) but our souls live forever. At least that is what I was always taught by the. Catholic Church. We need our spiritual food ( Eucharist, contact with others of like mind, group bible studies ,etc.) to keep us spiritually alive. Under these restrictions we have been deprived of so much. Our Shepherds have not protected the flock and ravenous wolves have preyed upon it. Some of the flock will never be found after all of this.

We are in the biggest spiritual war of our lifetime. To help fight in this battle, the Kepha group has been holding rosary rallies on the third Saturday of each month at 9:30am outside the cathedral. It would be great if the diocese would be more supportive of this effort. The only comments thus far from the Cathedral have been to make sure that we social distance and wear masks. No encouragement nor support. The perception here is that the diocese is so concerned about COVID that it is missing the war that we are in. We need to find more ways to rally our diocese to engage in this spiritual war. Let's get folks back in church, back to more Sacraments and sacramentals, back to more face-to-face fellowship, and doubling up on our prayer life. The COVID paranoia is hindering our ability to take the gloves off and fight this spiritual war as a diocese.

This needs to stop@

Thank you for your consideration. Mr. & Dr. Koestner

I pray you please hear us dear bishop.

Haven't been in church in a while why can't we pray for everyone in church that's what God is for

Wow, what a letter! Amen. And wow, what respectful comments from fellow Catholics. Oh how I wish our bishop could see these comments.

Bring back holy water at church also please

As a Registered Nurse I am appalled by the complicity of the medical community in the misinformation and mistreatment of this disease. as a Catholic I am appalled by the lack of courage that our Church leaders have shown in treating our spiritually wounded people. The shepherds have abandoned the sheep.

Please listen to this letter, my husband has had the conviction right from the beginning the Church is following man and not God.

Remove the ropes on pews too!

Please send to my Bishop (s) too

Thank you! Blessings!

Hello and good day, His Excellency Bishop David Walkowiak and fellow catholics, may I suggest and ask you to consider this thought out peaceful solution I'm thinking @ each and every one of our Mass services indicate with two(2) signs, one for masked individuals and one for unmasked individuals. Yours truly

Please!!!!!

I fear we have already lost many of our brethren who have gotten used to sleeping in on Sundays.

Never close the church! Leave it up to the individual. If you are not comfortable attending stay home until your faith enables you.

Souls are starving! Please help us. We thirst for a shepherd that will bring us to life-giving waters. The civil authorities that have been followed step-for-step have no concern for our souls. Should not the body of Christ, the Ark of Salvation, lead in dark trying times, rather than following every decision of secular voices?! Who is showing us the path to Heaven? Our government or our Church? Please help us to be the Salt of the Earth with flavor and not trodden under foot. St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church, please pray for us!