Even a month ago, none of us would have ever imagined that the so-called mighty humanity across the globe would get itself infected with this threatening and terrifying obsession of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19). All have woken up, and that too, all of a sudden. Even those that does include me, who earlier pooh-poohed this apprehension cum anxiety, stand now much challenged.
Consequently, we are called upon, in a demanding way, to accept our utter frailty and acknowledge our sheer minimality. We have to confess our limitedness and littleness. Down the decades, we have begun to applaud ourselves that we have all the solutions for all the problems. Now, we know we are indeed small, both individually and collectively..!
Somehow sub-consciously, we have begun assessing ourselves ‘big’ with all our academic and analytical advancements, scientific and technological promotions.
Suddenly, we find ourselves knocked out..!
This Lenten Season of 2020 will be remembered, for years to come, for its peculiar uniqueness: getting its obligatory Eucharists and Sacraments cancelled; getting its Lenten schedules and services dismissed; getting all engagements and appointments postponed. Vatican has already announced the negation of the Holy Week- ceremonies in public. So too, in many other Churches, communities and countries.
Who would have thought of this sort of scenario even on the Ash Wednesday when we stepped into this season? We all are caught. No escape now. In other words, the Good Friday has come to be ahead of time, this year.
As widely reported in the media, hundreds of millions worldwide are learning to adjust themselves to once-in-a-generation measures to battle this COVID pandemic that is not only killing the vulnerable but also threatening prolonged economic misery. Life is changing, as of now, in 164 nations while coping this crisis. This sickening and saddening situation is going to be the case for over six months, as per some conservative estimate.
The God of history will certainly have ‘something’ to convey through all this phenomenon. We have to listen to it carefully and learn it convincingly and also, live it courageously. What follows here below is just an attempt to decipher what could be his challenging message :
01. DEPENDENCE ON THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE :
Going by some available informations, over half a dozen experiments are being pursued to discover an anti - virus drug for COVID-19. In course of time, one or other will produce it which will progressively halt the disease. This precarious occurrence itself carries a message for us all: We cannot, and we should not take God for granted.
We should teach ourselves emphatically that we are not comprehensively independent and certainly, in no way, omnipotent. First and foremost, we have to be very much dependent on the Lord of Life who is our source and summit. The following statement, attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola, puts it pointedly and also practically: “Do as if everything depends on you and then, pray as if everything depends on God”.
02. DEDICATION TO OUR LIVING CONTEXTS :
While inviting us to focus on God our Common Parent, this occurrence also highlights our inter-dependence
among ourselves which we tend to overlook in our current modernised times. ‘Corona brings families closer’, headlines a newspaper : Working from home, many families are being beckoned to spend quality time, So far, meals have been a hurried affair but now, a leisurely one, Strengthening bonds among spouses, Catching up with some unused skills, Picking up some new skills, Parents offering tips to their children to ‘school away from school’, Showing concern for the grand parents at next room, Allotting time to connect telephonically with some unforgotten friends living far and near..!
The media is packed with details how, around the world, the crisis has also created a wave of solidarity in some countries, with neighbours and colleagues coming together to look after the neediest, including dropping supplies at the doors of those forced to stay inside.
Moreover, some well-to-do nations are unleashing billions of euros and dollars in stimulus to economics, and to health services, loans to tottering businesses, and supports for individuals fearful for mortgages.
All these are not just some ‘mundane’ acts. Rather, substantial acts of Conversion. We know, the Lent calls for meaningful changes in our being and behaviour, our attitudes and approaches, our relationships and outreachings.
By the way, we determine that these changes have to be carried ongoingly even beyond the corona-time, though triggered off by the crisis.
03. DIRECTION TO ONE’S EASTERED LIFE:
Lenten weeks are not just for their sake. But, for ‘eastering our personal lives too’. An unknown author’s words of wisdom come handy here: “Easter is a day to fan the ashes of dead hope, a day to banish doubts and to seek the slopes where the sun is rising from east, and to revel in the faith which transports us out of ourselves and the dead past into the vast and inviting unknown”.
In spite and despite of all that are happening around which envelope not only the COVID but also the CAA and NRIC, each of us has to arise with the Lord from the EAST as an effective embodiment of HOPE FOR A HEALTHY, HAPPY AND HOLY HUMANITY THAT HAS TO BE RESURRECTED sooner or later..!
No comments:
Post a Comment