Crisis: Persecuted Christians

I’m Beginning to Think of the Pandemic 

as a Kind of “Sunday”

 

      I’ll explain this illustration in a moment.

     But first, people have important questions and concerns right now.  I’ve lost my job; will I get it back?  Will it still exist for me when the pandemic is over?  How can I make ends meet until then?  My business has been shut down; when can I open it again?  How will I care for my employees and pay my bills?  School is closed; how will we manage as a family?  I’m a single mother; what if I run out of money?  I’m elderly and shut in; does anyone know or care that I’m here?  If I get sick; who will take care of me?

     Let’s pause and prayerfully acknowledge the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual suffering that God’s image-bearers are experiencing.  As we respond to them, let’s avoid insensitive or glib responses.  Their questions and fears are worthy of our thoughtful and kind answers, always with profound love and gentleness.

Sunday is a day God set aside for Mass and prayer, for rest, to be with family, and care for our neighbors.  Jesus assures us that Sunday is given to us by God, that it’s made for man, not man for it.  (Mark 2:27)

     For some of us, these days are busier than ever.  Folks working in most of the health-care-related jobs have their hands full.  The overload is hitting people in some of the other fields that are deemed essential.  Our priests are busy answering calls from anxious parishioners (and others) about how they'll manage during the pandemic.

     At the same time, others of us can’t go out as much these days and have less that we have to do.  If we're one of these folks, I suggest that these days can be something like a Sunday.  That is, we have more time to pray, read our Bibles, and assist at Mass on TV or social media.  Sometimes we can sleep in a little, and take walks with those we love.  We can stop buying things.  We can sing hymns and spiritual songs.  We can phone friends and neighbors, share faith and hope, become aware of needs, and comfort those we know who are worried.  With the extra time, there are many ways that we can express friendship and give tangible help.  

     Like a Sunday.

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     How have God’s people responded to such trials and testing in the past?  That's where the illustration comes in.

     I think, for example, of Israel gathered at the banks of the Jordan River after 40 years in the desert, longing to enter the land promised to Abraham.  Do you remember what happened?  Joshua gave the Israelites specific instructions on how they were to cross the river: 

          When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, which the levitical   
          priests will carry, you must break camp and follow it, that you may know the way 
          to take, for you have not gone over this road before.  (Joshua 3:3-4)

As the priests stepped into the river, the water upstream was blocked, and the riverbed became dry before them: 

          The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD remained motionless on dry 
          ground in the bed of the Jordan until the whole nation had completed the passage.  
          (Joshua 3:17)

     As the people were crossing, twelve of them, one from each tribe, lifted 12 large stones from where the priests were standing in the middle of the Jordan, and hefted them to the other side.  When they were out of the riverbed, they erected a monument there, where the people first camped.

     Why did they do that?  The monument was a sign, a grateful memorial for God’s people.  Imagine a little boy or girl asking years later, “Grandpa, what does this monument mean?”  “It reminds us that God temporarily cut off the flow of the Jordan River so we could cross over and come here.  My child, these stones tell us who God is and who we are.  Never forget.”  (Cf. Joshua 4:6-7)

  

     Isn’t it true that God has provided for us?  Hasn’t he cared for us in the midst of trials and tests?  Like the Israelites, we are undergoing a trial caused by the C virus.  God has done many things for us, and he asks that we remember with gratitude what he's done.  That’s why we have monuments like churches and shrines.  They remind us of God’s provision and love.  They grow our ability to trust him, even during great uncertainty.

     There’s a crucifix in every church.  “Christ has come; Christ has died; Christ will come again.”  This reminds us of God’s faithfulness to us.  Usually we recite these words with each other at Mass.  Now, for a time, we cannot.  But the Church invites us to continue to say them in our homes and in our hearts, remembering and trusting our Lord’s faithfulness, and affirming our connection with fellow believers across the miles—and across the centuries.

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      I suggest this current period is something like a Sunday, in the sense that we have more time to love God and love our neighbors.  I suggest that we see it, in a way, as a sacred time. 

     As I’m inside and my body increasingly becomes still, I can reach out all the more.  It makes me more aware that we need each other.  Especially it makes me more aware that we need God.   

     May our Lord bless each of us to remember the monuments of our God.