If you are like me, you have probably found yourself at home with an abundance of time to think about Coronavirus. We are not sure when we will be able to leave self-isolation, or even how many people might die. Pondering these questions has only brought me anxiety and distress. This is amplified by the inability of many of us to do something. It seems that the best thing to do is what most of us here have begun: social distancing and self-isolation.
Social distancing and self-isolation have been tough. Three weeks ago, I was in France, studying abroad. Though I know the cancellation of study abroad pales in comparison to those who are losing loved ones or their own lives in this crisis, it has certainly put me in a melancholic state. It has been so easy for me to weigh only on the negatives of this virus. All of this, coupled with the dead trees and grass of wintery Minnesota, have allied themselves in sewing a shroud of darkness.
Where is God in all of this? Et in lux tenebris lucet et Tenebrae non conprehenderunt. In the prologue of St. John’s Gospel we read, “And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesuit spirituality reminds us to find God in all things. God, even in the darkness is not overcome. He can be found, and He searches for us.
I have found the eighth chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans to be greatly edifying in these times. St. Paul reminds us that nothing, “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation (ie. coronavirus and its consequences) will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The closure of churches, as painful as it is, does not separate us from the love of God. The Catechism reminds us, God “is not bound by His sacraments” (1257). As the Holy Father reminded us in his March 27 address to Rome and the World, God does not abandon his flock.
St. Paul reminds us “that in everything God works for good” (Rom. 8:28). Rather than dwelling on currently unanswerable questions about the terror of this disease and its consequences, I have found it helpful to ponder the good that the Lord could be working to bring out of Coronavirus. We must remember that amidst this darkness, the light is not overcome.
Perhaps, the Lord will use this time to allow us to draw closer to our immediate family. As I head towards my senior year, this time to spend with my family at home could be a great gift before graduation and fully moving out of the house. When I am home for holidays, I too often neglect spending quality time with my immediate family. Now, it seems that I don’t have that option. Though Masses are suspended and some of our church buildings locked, the Catechism and Vatican II remind us that the family is the “domestic church.” It is here, amidst the bickering with my sisters and the ‘super fun’ quarantine jigsaw puzzles that “one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal love, generous—even repeated—forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one’s life” (CCC 1657). During these trying times, I suspect the Lord is calling us to pay our tithes to the domestic church by strengthening our relationships with our family. While Mass is suspended, let us not forget the great gift that families have in offering prayer from the sanctity of their homes.
Many people during these times are unable to return to their family for a variety of reasons. St. John Paul II reminded us in Familiaris Consortio, “the Church is a home and a family for everyone, especially those who ‘labor and are heavy laden.’” During these times when we cannot connect with our fellow friends of faith or parishioners in person, perhaps we can reach out via social media and the phone to hold our brothers and sisters in Christ close to us. Though it might feel odd to pray alone in our rooms, we should remember that no prayer is ever truly prayed alone. The Catechism reminds us that “even when it is lived out ‘in secret’ prayer is always prayer of the Church” (CCC 2665) as it is a communion with the Trinity and with all of the saints in Heaven. Though many of us are unable to assist at the Eucharistic sacrifice on physical altars, we can offer our adoration and praise, our thanksgiving and gratitude, our atonement and contrition, and our petitions and needs on the altars of our hearts. When we feel as if we are hopeless, left in the depths, we can join the psalmist in crying out De Profundis (Psalm 130)
Out of the depths I cry to thee O Lord!
Lord hear my voice
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities (even the Coronavirus).
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