A New Era

There is time when suffering comes to everyone, whether it is physical, spiritual, or emotional. Most of us do not dwell on our own death, precisely because it would prevent us from doing our daily duty. Because, if we imagined death was imminent, would we still complete another day of work? Of course we wouldn't. Then it stands to reason we put off preparing for our own death in order to live our daily lives, and complete the work necessary for our survival.

When a catastrophe like the COVID19 virus comes along and we are forced to shut down our routines, we find out how vulnerable to death we really are.

Today's events have an air of the Tower of Babel. We think we are sophisticated, and yet we find one event changes our journey.

As we grapple with things beyond our control, we are in a new era of Salvation history. We are beginning a turn, and if we live until the threat is gone, we will wear the scars of those who survived a trial. Life and death is not really in our hands.

Perhaps we need to re-examine our conscience as a Church? We need the Mass. We must find a way to offer it again despite a deadly virus. Yes, we may need to figure out how to spread out the congregation to prevent communicable diseases. But to go without the Mass is death to the faithful.

Just like a microscopic virus that kills people is unseen, many unbelievers fool themselves to think that prayer can't change earthly events. God is invisible, not non-existent. Prayer is a key to God's power in an invisible world. There is no higher prayer than the Mass.

God uses ordinary things for our salvation. We may believe an event like a deadly virus could NEVER have any positive results, but that is thinking like humans think rather than like God does.

The greatest example of God's bait and switch is Jesus Christ who turned death upside down. He didn't stop death, but rather turned it, magnifying it to the highest level as the example of His love.

God brought out of death The Resurrection. Through Christ all of us are given this gift of His Resurrection. We are an Easter people,who will never allow the naysayers of this present age to conquer what we know is Christ's victory over the powers of this world.

Every time we proclaim “I am a Catholic” we are really saying we are the followers of Jesus Christ who conquered death. He transformed our weakness through sin into the greatest victory of all.

We have been inoculated with the vaccine of Jesus Christ whose own blood is the cure for the resulting death from sin. We, the body of Christ, are one with Him. Let us not be afraid.