Laetare Sunday – 22 March 2020
Greetings of Lenten peace from Sant’Anselmo in Rome. .... All together,
we are living through a time of unprecedented change in so many aspects of our
lives. We have all come to see that the best attempts at planning for events,
good-will endeavors to be of service to others, and arrangements for community
celebrations can come to a halt in a matter of moments. All our efforts to eat
and live in a healthy way seem suddenly useless when the virus enters our
community. With the collapse of travel and commerce, many of our sources of
income from our guesthouses, our courses, and our small businesses and
workshops, have gone down or even disappeared at present. While all this can be
disappointing, discouraging, worrying and frightening, our faith reminds us
that all people, all things, and all events are in the hands of a God who loves
us, cares for us, and provides for us. While we may think of the name of God so
often used in Advent, Immanuel, it is a divine name that stands true each day
of our lives: indeed, God is with us. We cannot just say that, we have to
believe it and put it into practice in ways that are life-giving for ourselves
and for those with whom we live and serve. That is our encouragement and our
strength as we move forward in faith.
... There is a beautiful verse in Psalm 125 which gives us an ancient
truth that is still pertinent for us today. The text reads in verse 2,
“Jerusalem! The mountains surround her; so the Lord surrounds his people both
now and forever!” What a powerful image for us to reflect on. In effect, the
Psalmist tells us that we live, move and have our being in the embrace of God’s
loving care. God’s life-giving protection and care surrounds us, even when we
do not feel it. But like the mountains that stand firm in their place,
encircling Jerusalem, God’s steady, stable and strong arms remain a force that
guides the course of world events, including the one in which we all now stand.
Someone wrote to me and asked if this Coronavirus is God’s punishment
upon our world today. No, certainly not. When such disasters happen, it’s
natural to ask, “Why did this happen, where did it come from, who is to blame?”
This same question is found is the Gospel according to Luke, when people asked
Jesus about the 18 people who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on
them. Jesus replied, “Do you think they were more guilty than anyone else in
Jerusalem? By no means” (Lk 13:4-5a). The answer of Jesus to the people was
that their interpretation was incorrect; the point often is, we simply do not
know, and our human existence is filled with many unanswered questions. Another
example appears in the Gospel according to John, when the disciples ask Jesus,
“’Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus
replied, ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned’ (Jn 9:2-3a). Jesus tells the
disciples to look within themselves and to walk in the light that Jesus shows
them, that is to follow him faithfully.
God continues to guide and care for us through the dedicated men and
women in our governments throughout the world. They have taken a hard look at
the threats that face us by the experiences that have already begun to spread
through China, and now in Italy and beyond. God speaks to us through them, and also
through the leaders of our Church who have told us to follow the restrictions
and guidelines that the medical profession has given to our governments. These
laws that have been put into place to halt the spread of this debilitating
virus, to preserve lives, and keep safe those who are most vulnerable, and
really, all of us. This virus does not discriminate according to age. These
restrictions limit our lives, and put boundaries on what we can do, where we
can go, and how we can relate to one another – all for our benefit. These men
and women are instruments of God’s voice to us, to know the divine presence
through this human communication. We can believe that our obedience and
cooperation will be redemptive in both saving lives and arresting the spread of
this virus.
An article appeared in one of the Italian newspapers from a doctor in
northern Italy who was treating patients with this virus. It reads more
powerfully if I simply give the story to you as the doctor himself speaks to
the journalist. In Italy, no one is free to enter a hospital to visit anyone –
not a priest, nor a religious sister, nor a family member. This is a story
about a priest who came to the hospital because he was sick with the symptoms
of the Coronavirus. “Nine days ago, a 75-year- old pastor came to us for
medical help. He was a kind man, he had grave respiratory problems, but he had
a Bible with him and it impressed us that he was reading the Bible to the
people who were dying and holding their hands. We were all tired, discouraged doctors,
psychologically and physically spent, and so we found that we were listening to
him. Now we must admit: as human beings we have reached our limits, there is
nothing more we can do, and more people are dying every single day. And we are
exhausted. Two of our colleagues have died and others are infected. We realized
that we have reached the limits of what man can do. We need God, and we have
begun to ask for his help. We speak among ourselves and we cannot believe that
we who were fierce atheists are now seeking for interior peace by asking the
Lord to help us to resist so that we can take care of the sick. Yesterday the
75-year old pastor died. Despite the fact that in the last three weeks we have
had over 120 people die in our unit and we are all exhausted and feel
destroyed, he succeeded, despite his own condition and our own difficulties, to
bring us a PEACE that we no longer hoped to find. The pastor went to the Lord,
and soon we will follow him if things continue like this. I have not been home
for six days; I don’t know the last time I ate something; I realize my own
worthlessness on this earth, and I want to dedicate my last breath to helping
others.”
My dear brothers and sisters, the Coronavirus places before us a great
mystery, a paradox for us to ponder: in suffering and death there is healing
and new life. The God who surrounds our lives is able to take the grief,
anguish, suffering and even death, and bring forth the healing of souls and
bodies to experience new life. We understand the paschal mystery at work in the
words of this doctor; his exhausting service has meaning in God’s unfolding
plan for our healing and our renewal. The transformation of the human heart is
the work of God, and often God uses us as instruments of divine grace to bring
about the restoration of people’s lives. That is why we can be assured that God
stands in the midst of all the events of human history; not that he has brought
them about, but that, as the Lord of human history, we are never far from the
redemptive hand of God.
In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, there is a moment when the people
and city of Jerusalem are under siege by the Assyrian forces. In effect, the
enemy is at the door, poised to enter and attack them. When Israel is tempted
to make an alliance with Egypt to fight off the Assyrians forces, God gives an
opposing and important word through the prophet which speaks to our situation
today. “Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: By waiting and by calm
you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust shall be your strength” (Isa 30:15).
Salvation and deliverance remain in the hands of God; our task is to trust with
serene confidence. That is not always an easy task. The advances that have been
made through the work of scientists, chemists, medical doctors and researchers
all attest to the advances that have been made in recent centuries to curb
disasters and to keep us free from threats of harm. Well and good, but we have
now seen that even the brightest of minds and the most skilled in the medical profession
are stumped, and waiting for something to reveal a cure. So now is a moment of
great faith and challenging trust to see how God will lead us forward. The
Psalmist says it another way: “Be still and know that I am God: exalted over
nations, exalted over earth” (Ps 46[45]:11). It is God who moves the minds and
hearts of professionals to see things in new ways and to make new discoveries.
Our challenge is to know faithfully trust that God stands in the midst of this,
and will lead us forward.
As Benedictines, our daily prayer remains a source of encouragement as
our communities gather each day to hear the word of God and to pray the Psalms.
The texts of Scripture and the Psalms unite us in one voice crying out to God,
not only for ourselves, but for all who have suffered loss in any way.
Sometimes people have said to me that they struggle with the harsh and violent
words of the psalms, especially those found in the Laments. At this moment when
so many are suffering under the pains of a foreign enemy that invades and
debilitates the human body, the words of the Laments give us a language of
solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the human family who have suffered
death, disease, and distress. The words of the Laments join our voices with
those people who can hardly express the pain they have experienced; we can
become their voice to God, crying out for mercy and reprieve, an end to their
confinement or exile. A deep sense of solidarity unites us with them, as
together we storm the heavens both with our words and with our acts of
sacrifice. When we can accept the sacrifices that are asked of us with ready
willingness and a spirit of genuine charity, we fulfill the words of God given
us through the Prophet Isaiah, “By waiting and by calm you shall be saved, in
quiet and in trust shall be your strength” (Isa 30:15). The daily practice of
lectio divina steeps us in the Word of God as a divine voice that speaks to us
and asks for us a response. May we listen with open hearts to what God wishes
to tell us in the quiet moments when the Scripture reveal to us a voice of
compassion, hope, and peace. In that daily spiritual exercise we come into
contact with the living God who desires to enter into communion and
conversation with us. Let us listen faithfully and hopefully.
[In this time when the celebrationof the Eucharist is unavailable to
many] our daily celebrations of the
Liturgy of the Hours provide rich fare for our reflection, food for thought and
meditation that has sustained the faith of the Church for centuries. The
Psalms, the biblical readings, and the non-biblical readings all tell the story
of the mystery we celebrate during the day of the Triduum in a language that
heightens the greatness of the paschal mystery for us to contemplate. ....
Also, the isolation which we all experience becomes an opportunity to
go deeper within. We all know that the word in Latin Monaco/monaca refers to
one who is alone. In that experience of solitude, therein lies the grace to dig
deep into the rich well of the faith that lies within each of us. And however
small our community is, we are privileged to gather as a community, brought
together by Christ who told us that where two or more are gathered in his name,
he is there in the midst of them (Mt 18:20).
Our charism of hospitality has a special meaning now, and we must think
lovingly and creatively. For many of us, we are unable to welcome guests, allow
others to join us in our common prayer, or allow our employees to carry on
their tasks with us. As the saying goes, “Charity begins at home.” Our welcome
and kindness to our community members becomes a genuine source of hospitality
that we can often miss. When someone in the community looks lonely or fearful,
a kind word, a greeting, or a simple expression of friendship becomes a way of
expressing our care and concern for one another. When we have boundaries of
space within our own living conditions, taking time to visit with others,
observing the respected distance is a way of working together to combat the
disease and to strengthen the bonds of brotherly or sisterly appreciation.
Also, keeping in contact with those we know who are alone becomes another way
to express our appreciation for the bonds of family or friendship. Hospitality
extends a loving concern wherever we see or know of someone in need.
.... Our prayer together builds confidence, dispels fear, and builds a
solidarity which strengthens all of us who feel the constraints of this
situation. It is moments like this when our human possessions mean little to
us, and our faith is a most treasured gift that enables us to be selfless,
generous, and kind at all times. We remain strong in the embrace of God. Our
prayer possesses a power that is stronger than we can fully comprehend, so let
us keep faithful to that daily plea to God for an end to this debilitating
disease. And let us listen attentively to the voices that God sends to us
through the government and the Church, trying to foster a healthy path to
overcoming this present situation.
...
Let us continue to pray for those who are seriously affected by the
Coronavirus, for those who are working for a vaccine to prevent its spread, and
for all who suffer from the physical and emotional effects of this dreaded
virus. We look to Mary, whose maternal love and care for all of us is a sure
hope for healing and restoration. And as we celebrate the feast of the
Incarnation with the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, we are reminded
of how close Jesus Christ is to us, taking on our human flesh, to heal a broken
world from the inside-out. Let us continue looking to Christ with trust,
confidence, and hope.
Sincerely in Christ, our great Hope,
Abbot Primate Gregory Polan, O.S.B.
