We were gathered together, but, fearful of the Corona Virus, had locked all the doors in the house. Well, the others were, because I wasn’t there (as the only among us I was able to get quarantine pass, and I was outside buying some bread for our dinner). I was in hurry to come back, because it was getting dark and soon the siren will sound announcing curfew. To be honest, I was happy to be able to go out, even just for a while. The ambience among us was strange. Everyone was blaming everyone. It was like… we weren’t friends anymore, we were suspecting each other, keeping our distance. One of us died three days ago… and we were afraid that we will follow soon…
I entered in our house, closing doors behind me. I left the bread in the kitchen. I wasn’t hungry, anyway. I was scared, everyone of us were scared. Noone could know what would happen the next day, or how long we would have to remain enclosed in our house. I couldn’t imagine saying that, but I really missed going to my boring job everyday, being stranded in traffic for entire hours, meeting my annoying neighbors. Now, the only way of meeting them was through facebook. I took out my cellphone and checked the new posts. My friend Pete had sent an image of Jesus, the one called Divine Mercy (I’m sure you know it) and written in his comment “#PeaceIgiveYou. #Believe”. Pete was a little crazy about all this religious staff, so I commented back: “OMG I will only believe if I see him stopping Covid-19”. Immediately Pete replied: “#ChallengeCovid19 BELIEVE WITHOUT SEEING”. I smiled to myself. Yeah sure, if only it would be that easy…
Why do we fear? Psychology says that fear is a natural response of our body and mind when we feel in danger or when we find ourselves in situations unknown, unpredictable, that we don’t understand and can’t control. Our life is full of those situations when things get out of control. The longer it lasts, the more stressed we feel, the more anxious and insecure we become. We wish it to end in some miraculous way, so we could go back to our daily lives that we know so much, even though we don’t enjoy it as much.
But we are in Easter Season. And Easter is the newness of all things. For forty days we were depriving ourselves (or being forced and deprived) of those things that make us feel secure, in control. Life has challenged us to become free. World will never be the same, whether we like it or no. We can’t go back to how it was before, we can’t control what tomorrow will bring. It is much easier to believe that it will be OK when we hear good news. But we don’t hear much of them nowadays. And it is becoming a challenge to believe that IT IS ALL FINE and that we are in good hands. In meeting Jesus standing among us in communities and families united again, in touching his wounds in the wounds of those who suffer directly (the victims – positive, dead, recovered -, frontliners, those who have lost their source of income and feel hunger…), for whom we pray or to whom we are able to help, in forgiving those who in any way contribute to the spread of virus or fake news that provoke more fear and confusion… is where we experience that it is possible to believe without seeing, and it is possible to experience peace that calms our fears.
Can’t go back to the beginning
Can’t control what tomorrow will bring
But I know here in the middle
Is the place where you promise to be
I’m not enough
Unless you come
Will you meet me here again?
Cause all I want
Is all you are
Will you meet me here again?
As I walk now through the valley
Let your love rise above every fear
Like the sun shaping the shadow
In my weakness your glory appears
Not for a minute
Was I forsaken
The Lord is in this place
The Lord is in this place
Come Holy Spirit
Dry bones awaken
The Lord is in this place
The Lord is in this place
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