A
Reflection on our Sunday Scripture Readings, March 29, 2020:
Our
nation and our world have been shaken by the COVID 19 Pandemic, may we learn
from this experience not only how fragile life is, but also, how to love God
and one another more fully and more faithfully.
The
prophet Ezekiel said, “… you shall know that I am the Lord … I will put my
spirit in you that you may live ….”
Then, in our Responsorial Psalm we cried out, “Lord, hear my voice … I
trust in the Lord.”
In these difficult times TRUST in God’s goodness is often
questioned.
Yet,
St. Paul teaches us “… if Christ is in you … the spirit is alive because of
righteousness.” Not our righteousness,
but God’s, today is the time to take our burdens to the Lord Jesus and ask Him
to help us carry them.
In the
Gospel Martha and Mary are overwhelmed by grief and heartache. St. John reminds us in his Gospel that Jesus gives
us HOPE in time of anxiety, distress and uncertainty.
Jesus prays, “Father,
I thank you for hearing me. I know that
you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they
may believe that you sent me.”
Today we pray like
Jesus, Lord hear my prayer, I know that You always hear my prayers and answer
them. My prayers are increasing with the
upward curve of the spread of COVID 19, I pray that when the curve flattens my
prayers continue, and when the curve is dissipated may I have the perseverance to
pray.
Mary and Martha
although blinded by grief TRUSTED in Jesus’ Word, we should follow Mary and
Martha’s path TRUST in the Lord. 
Fr. John Pilch S.J. wrote, “Faith in the risen … is not simply a pledge of resurrection on the last day but is rather a present and continuing participation in the life of the ever-living Jesus now, at this moment. Those who believe in Jesus never truly die.” https://liturgy.slu.edu/5LentA032920/theword_cultural.html
Expect
mercy during this pandemic is a concept offered by Dr. Paul Farmer. Dr. Farmer is the chairmen of the Department
of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
His
essay appeared in The Boston Globe [March 19, 2020]. I want to share part of what he wrote: “We
know how to confront the coronavirus pandemic: Expert mercy.”
Such
mercy, … “stems from an alchemy that mixes compassionate fellow feeling with
interventions that save the sick and slow down the spread [of the virus].” For Dr. Farmer and his colleagues, “expert
mercy” is the driving force behind the selflessness of Americans to practice
“social distancing” and quarantining themselves as necessary.
“Expert
mercy” … keeps doctors, nurses and
health care workers working long … keeps open shelters and soup kitchens and
clinics for the poor …. inspires us to help, to reach out, to keep in touch, to
put aside our own comfort for the sake of others …. can get us through this
crisis. [Connections,
March 30, 2020]
In
today’s Gospel Jesus offers His “Expert mercy” to Mary and Martha in their time
of need. May we be sources of “Expert mercy”,
“Expert prayer” and “Expert care” for those in pain [emotional or physical] in
this crisis.
For
a few minutes, in silence, reflect on this poem by Lynn Unger and ask the Lord
to guide your path through the darkness of COVID 19 with His “Expertise” in
mercy, prayer and care.
Pandemic
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
–Lynn Ungar 3/11/20
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
–Lynn Ungar 3/11/20
May God Be Praised!
No comments:
Post a Comment