A study of human history will easily reveal that we humans have a precarious grip on the precious gift of life. The Great Plague of Europe in about the 15th Century was not the first major plague. The First World War saw the death of 10 million unfortunate combatants and civilians. The returning soldiers helped spread the Spanish flu, and eventually an estimated 100 million people died. Recent road death tragedies as well as the present pandemic remind us of the precarious hold on the gift of life.
Some may have seen a recent ABC Foreign Correspondent episode about the daily work of a paramedic team, assisting victims of the present pandemic. The camera crew entered the home of an elderly woman, struggling with the symptoms of the virus. The dear woman had placed an image of Jesus – the Divine mercy – at the end of her bed. It was clearly visible, as the camera captured how the two paramedics went about providing urgent assistance in such a calm, gentle and professionally efficient way. The paramedics work spoke of the presence of the kindness and mercy of the icon. They know that their daily work means that there is risk that their own lives may be on the line.
Presently, I usually pray daily Mass, and I pray for all. After watching the above story, I prayed for the dear old woman, and for the lovingly heroic paramedics. I pray daily for the ‘front line’ health professionals and workers. I pray for those afflicted who sometimes struggle to survive, and for those who don’t. I pray for the heart broken millions around the world who presently grieve deeply. My Faith tells me that Jesus’ crucifixion declares that no darkness will be beyond the reach of his merciful love. And the resurrection? In worldly eyes, this is just a laughable myth, a comfort for the feeble minded. For the believer? They know in their hearts how Jesus’ words, like, ‘know that I am with you always, yes to the end of the world’ ring true, and so, we can touch heaven’s gates in our now. Precarious or not, then, our ‘now,’ is meant to be sacred space.
And anger? I think of Jesus’ anger as he turned over the money changers tables in the Jerusalem temple. There are questions. Why were the nations ‘asleep at the wheel’ despite warnings over the years to prepare for the likely outbreak of another pandemic? Why is it the poorer peoples in the world are still forced to survive on the crumbs which might fall from the tables of the rich? Pope Francis is a prophetic voice to the nations. Five years ago, he wrote document called Laudato Si. It is a blueprint for how the nations can work cooperatively and in ways which ensures respect and care for the well-being of planet earth. He looks over the years now past and says again we all need an ‘ecological conversion’ in
order to restore a harmonious relationship with the earth and with the rest of humanity.
He says we need a new way of looking at the earth as being a sacred gift for sustaining all humanity, and not just being a “storehouse of resources for us to exploit”. We want and pray that humanity will emerge from the pandemic with changed hearts and with the life affirming newness Pope Francis still sees is within our grasp. Laudato Si Week is being celebrated May 16-24. It is a message of Christ-centred hope in a very needy world.
– By Fr Kevin