Be kind

“Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle!” These words could have been written specifically with us in mind. But, these are the words and wisdom of a Jewish philosopher named Philo of Alexandria who lived in Egypt during the time of Our Lord. Wisdom is timeless!
We are fighting new battles daily!
 
Today, the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus leaves us all feeling disoriented, fearful and on edge. This is not the Lent that I had imagined it might be. So much has changed since Ash Wednesday.
 
The Lenten disciplines that I had in mind are not the ones the Lord has chosen for me or for any of us, for that matter. It’s a different kind of journey than the one I had mapped out for myself. We all need to be attentive and responsive to the grace that is being offered to us during this season and under our present extraordinary circumstances.
 
Ordinarily, Good Friday is unique because it is the only day of the year that Mass is not celebrated. On that day, we focus on the Lord’s passion and death. These days, every day is like Good Friday because not only public celebrations of Mass but also access to Holy Communion are not readily available due to concerns of public health and safety. This is unprecedented in our time, perhaps in any time.
 
What is the grace that the Lord is offering us? Could it be that the Lord is inviting us to stop and realize what a great and often unappreciated gift we have been given in the Mass and the Holy Eucharist? We easily can take these sacred gifts for granted. Is this forced Eucharistic fast an invitation to repent by turning to the Lord and acknowledging the depths of a hunger within us that only the Lord can satisfy?
 
Like Jesus who fasted and prayed for 40 days in the desert, we are facing our own temptations and demons these days. Fear is at the heart of it. Fear of economic insecurity, anxiety because of a tumbling stock market, job loss and the invisible enemy that is spreading contagion across the globe in the form of COVID-19 – all of this can leave us paralyzed.
 
The experience of isolation brought on by this pandemic and our need to practice social distancing and avoid even gathering for such a sacred purpose as Mass leaves us feeling very much alone. The danger is that we turn in on ourselves, rather than turn to the Lord. The Lord created us in his own image, which means that he created us to be in relationship with others.
 
One of the three pillars of Lenten discipline is almsgiving or mercy (the others being prayer and fasting.) It seems to me that the Lord is inviting us to be more mindful of others this Lent. We are being invited to practice mercy and kindness.
 
“It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6). Whose burden can we lighten during these days? Who is the Lord placing in our path that requires an extra gesture of kindness or patience? As we hear it said so often these days, “we are all in this together.” Indeed, we are. And, God is with us.