What the heck just happened? We went from our normal lives to a pandemic nightmare! Unemployment was down, things seemed to be humming, and then a virus knocked the world to it’s knees.
Suddenly, our lives were turned upside down, and for weeks we have been living a new normal in a surreal landscape of face masks and hand sanitizer. Somehow, what we have been doing to flatten the curve has, through the grace of God, seems to be working. And now we seem to be turning a corner. We have word that things may be opening up. We can have church gatherings again, and we are now planning on ways to turn things back around.
In the Eucharistic prayer at Mass, during the consecration we hear the words I began with:
in a similar way. They refer to how Jesus takes the wine after blessing the bread. So as we start things back up again, shouldn’t we do as Jesus did? Use a similar way!
How about all of the good that has come about in the midst of this virus? At our best, we have been caring for others: our families, the most vulnerable around us, for other people than ourselves. In the middle of the craziness, it is the love and concern for others that started quickly to shine through. Our world reminded us of our true heroes, and of what was most important in our lives, all through the grace of God, showing us
a similar way to Jesus so that we could find our way out and through this. pandemic
We now have a glimmer of hope! Come Holy Spirit, and renew the face of the earth! Help us as we open our churches back up. Return, please, our sacraments to us. Protect our most vulnerable, embolden our healthiest to begin picking up the pieces of our lives. Open up our places of work so that we can begin working again,
supporting our families, doing all that we can to make our world shine again.
Make us generous, thoughtful, courageous, selfless. Help us to keep
You as the center of our lives. Bless those who have suffered and help us to continue to be their relief, their refuge and their help. Keep us praying. Invite and incite us to stay close to
You. Save us from what threatens us. Rescue and free our country and our world! Bring to successful completion the good that
You have begun for us.
Amen! +