COVID-19: LIVING OUR FAITH
Author : Jorathe Nắng Tím
Translator : A.Prisca
There can
be no doubt that the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Crisis has generated the fears and
anxieties seriously all over the world besides the increasing number of deaths
and the non-stop number of confirmed cases every day as the World Health
Organization has declared it “a global health emergency”
What
happening around the world now is the 'stay-at-home'
order, the guidelines to "stay at home to the maximum extent possible, to
travel only if necessary and make sure to practice social
distancing." Moreover, mandatory
curfews or travel bans are required in a lot of areas at high risk in every
part of the world; non-essential travel across borders of most of countries is
restricted; tourism and recreation related travel is considered non-essential.
Likewise, Churches around the
world fight to prevent the spread of the coronavirus by suspending
public Masses and are moving liturgical celebrations online. Pope Francis, in
an interview with the Italian daily newspaper, “La Repubblica”, gave a common
message to halt the spread of the coronavirus by nourishing our spiritual life with
Mass and prayers, but doing it from home.
However,
while a big number of Bishops, Priests and lay people around the world follow
Pope Francis to encourage the online services and to restrict ministries with a
large number of people, some other people does not agree with these measures
with the different aggressive opinions, even from some famous Cardinals in Rome
or Bishops in France. They think that this is an action that does not express
strong faith in the middle of crisis and suppose that the Church belongs to
Jesus Christ , so it is the best time to witness the Church lives beyond any
threat of pandemics like coronavirus in the world and to show the utmost
trusting in God of the faithful by keeping all things as usual.
As
the coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to spead and Catholic people are reacting
in a
variety of
ways, I humbly share some of my own reflections on the way Pope Francis and
most religious leaders are facing the pandemic.
01. On the Motherhood of the Church : The Church has the courage of a mother who knows that
she must protect her own children from the dangers.
If we look at the Church as a strong administrative structure or a
defensive fortress of catechism, we will not be able to understand the meaning
and the value of some recent pastoral decisions against
the main threats to the life of the faithful affected by Covid 19.
In the decisions
to suspend public Masses and liturgies, the
Church, with immense maternal love, behaves like a mother with the right to
protect her children at any cost and trusts that God
gives the
precious gift of Life to people on earth and God wants to treasure and keep them safe in any
risky situations.
When
choosing Abraham to be the father of His own people, God gives him the only
child called Isaac in the situation that Abraham and his wife are out of the
age of fertility (cf. Gn 17,15-19) to let him know God he worships is God
of Life and God the Granter of Life. Moreover, when Abraham shows his obedience
to make his only son become God’s burnt offering and God chooses the ram in
place of Isaac, once again, God wants to reveal that : He does not want the
human life as a burnt offering because human beings is the precious gift of
Life from Him.
The Gospel according
to St. John expresses that the Good Shepherd never lets a thief come to steal and slaughter and
destroy the sheep; but strongly confirms “the Good Shepherd came so that they might have life and have it
more abundantly. I am the good shepherd who lays down my
life for the sheep.” (Jn
10,10-11).
Similarly, the
Church’s authority, the image of the Good Shepherd with the ultimate love for
the sheep as the faithful, has given some strong decisions in facing the
Covid-19, which may bring some disappointment or upset to the faithful, just
because of the love and the duty of the the Good Shepherd to prevent the
faithful from the threatening of Covid-19 spreading increasingly every part of
the world day by day.
Responding
angrily or expressing negative feelings to the suspending public Masses, restricting
gathering for devotions or other measures during this Coronavirus time leads us
incidentally to follow the lawful way of the scribes and
the Pharisees, who debate with Jesus
about the Sabbath and accuse
him of the unlawful cure on
the sabbath the man with the
withered hand (cf. Lk 6,6-10 ; Mk 3,1-6).
Responding to them, Jesus confirms that anything good should be done for the
sake of the life and the happiness of human beings because “The sabbath was made
for man, not man for the sabbath (cf. Mk 2,27) and it is lawful to do good on the
sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it (cf.
Lk 6, 9).” Indeed, the happiness of
human beings has to be put in the top priority to express the great glory of
God as well as to satisfy the
demand of the new
commandment, that is love one another.
Therefore,
facing the outbreak of Covid-19 threatening the life of all faithful over the
world, the Church’s authority has to officially issue some guidelines ,
measures and restrictions just for the protection and the common good of the
faithful. It cannot be considered as the actions against God’s law or
commandments.
Showing
some disappointment to the Church’s authority about the supension of all public
Masses, Liturgies or gathering for devotions during the Coronavirus time means
that we have paid too much attention to the external rituals while the act of
love and faith can never be limited or restricted in any chapel or sygnagogue
in the world. What we should focus on now is not merely observing or following outer religious rituals but seeking God’s
kingdom by going within our hearts and minds to discover and become one with
God’s presence within through inner prayers like meditation or contemplation
and through some active devotions like praying with the Rosary or praying with
the Novena to Our Lady of Knots.
(Jn 4, 21-24)
Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when
you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem….But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true
worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;* and indeed the Father seeks
such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those
who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”
It
doesn not mean that we deny the existing Church with the clerical hierachy and
the structures of dioceses, parishes, chapels to withdraw ourselves into the
private way of worship because the Church is the family, the loving community,
the people of God travelling together as the Body of Christ to the
Kingdom of God under the leadership of Jesus Christ ; therefore, in any
circumstances or conditions, we have to witness that the Communion is “at the heart of the Church's
selfunderstanding” and the Unity is demanded for all
Christians to gather together all people and all things into Christ .
It is the Unity in the
Church that we worship God completely in Spirit and truth, not depending on any
visible temple or any chapel in a certain place.
It is the Communion of faith
that we can fully participate in the vitality, the activeness and the love of
the Church, the beloved bride of Christ, in such situations that we cannot
celebrate Masses publicly, gather for devotions and Adorations or doing some
ministries with a great number of people.
Obviously, Covid-19 pandemic
puts all Christians in the world into a challenging situation that they hardly
ever faced. In such a special time like this,
* we need to understand
exactly the deep meaning and the values of faith of the decisions from Pope
Francis and worldwide diocesan bishops, together with all governments, to
stem spread coronavirus.
* we need to be particularly
strong in faith to live the spirit of obedience to the Church’s authority
through following strictly any decisions from them on preventing the spread of
coronavirus.
* we need to be absolutely
calm and very wise so as not to fall into the trap of Satan, who raises the
voice of disobedience in our hearts and forces us react negatively to the
Church’s authority , then to weaken our trust and love for the Mother Church
and make us get out of the unity with other Christians globally.
In unity with the Universal
Church, let us pray to God so that all the world can be saved from the
dangerous Covid-19 Pandemic and be granted with the inner peace with the genuine
spirit of unity and obedience to the Church of the sheep to their Good
Shepherds , “with the odour of the sheep”, who can call each by name and “will lay down their life for the sheep”. (Jn 10,15)
