However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
Deuteronomy 4:9
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.
Never forget what God has done for us. Do not worship false idols. Teach this to our children, and their children.
Except, we have. And we do. And we don’t.
I am inconvenienced and annoyed by this whole Coronavirus thing. I admit it. As are we all. All these cancellations, postponements, the fear and panic. And how it has affected the economy. Don’t get me wrong – I do understand the seriousness, and I understand the desire to “flatten the curve” as we’ve all come to understand. It is a serious situation, yes. But the panic and fear is unnecessary.
We’ve seen this type of situation before, with the flu and SARS and MERS and so on… But what makes this so serious is how fast and wide it spreads and how we are contagious before we even realize it. And the fact that this is a new virus, that we don’t have an acquired immunity for, makes for many unknowns.
And people fear unknowns. And when people fear unknowns, we become irrational, and we panic, and we become selfish. And we forget Who is truly in control. We forget the lessons we learned about God, all the blessings God has done for us. We worship our own desires, our need to hoard for our own self-preservation, and perhaps this very fear in and of itself. We forget what we learned, and we fail to pass it on.
This was the Israelites thousands of years ago in the desert, forgetting all the great things that God had done for them, and only thinking of their discomfort in the present moment.
And this is us today – in a global pandemic.
Yes, there are inconveniences. Yes, there is discomfort and suffering. And yes, unfortunately, there are people dying. But this is nothing to panic and fear over. There is only one thing to fear, and that is God. Have awe in Him, not only in what He has done in the past, but what He is doing through us now with this pandemic. The virus will fade. The economy will rebound. Yes, there will be lasting effects.
But use this as a time to grow. Use this as a time to spend with your family, to help one another, and to just be together again. You know, my son is upset like many of us that the NCAA and NBA and Major League baseball are all either postponed or cancelled. And he’s disappointed that his baseball practices have been cancelled. And I think deep down he’s upset he can’t be at school, be with his friends, and has to do e-learning.
But he told me today that he’s kind of happy that sports have been cancelled for a few weeks and he can have a break. He told me this while he and I were making dinner – together. And this was eye-opening to me. It made me think of and remember about all the things and activities we fill our days up with, and how that, no matter how hard you try, they seem to increase the busyness of our days and get into the way of family. And God.
As inconvenient as this time is, I am thankful. Thankful for what may come out of it not only for my family, but for families throughout this country and throughout the world. It helps me to remember what is important, and as reader Sandi commented on Mary Ortwein’s article on Monday:
“It is not lost on me that this is all happening during Lent. God is drawing us away from many of the distractions of the world so we can focus on Him.”
It is not lost on me either. This is a gift. We can use this time to increase our prayer, charity and almsgiving in ways we may not before. We can use this time and offer it up to God, to offer up our trials and suffering and inconvenience for God’s Will and Purpose. We can use this time to grow closer to those around us. We can use this time, to grow closer to God. We can simply use this time – to grow.
Perhaps every year, we should shut the world down for a few weeks. Imagine how we could grow and come together? But if left up to us, we will create the world that we live in, one of panic and fear, one of selfishness, one of false idols. One where we forget. Because we do this over and over. And so, from time to time, God lets us be reminded – and here we are.
We can use this time, for so many things.
Let’s continue to pray for the world in this time, for all of us during this pandemic, and especially for those who are suffering and who have died as a result of COVID-19.
Prayer (by Pope Francis)
O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
At the foot of the Cross you participated in Jesus’ pain, with steadfast faith. You, Salvation of the Roman People, know what we need. We are certain that you will provide, so that, as you did at Cana of Galilee, joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.
Help us, Mother of Divine Love, to conform ourselves to the Father’s will and to do what Jesus tells us: He who took our sufferings upon Himself, and bore our sorrows to bring us, through the Cross, to the joy of the Resurrection. Amen.We seek refuge under your protection, O Holy Mother of God.Do not despise our pleas – we who are put to the test – and deliver us from every danger, O glorious and blessed Virgin.
