We need more than masks and vaccines to win this battle

I can’t remember how long we have been living with this COVID pandemic. It seems like a long, long time. And, it has taken a toll on all of us.

By now COVID-19 and its variants have claimed more than 650,000 lives in our country alone. Most of us know families, co-workers and parishioners who have lost loved ones due to this deadly virus. You may be among them. Millions more have been stricken and recovered.

The pandemic affects every aspect of our lives. It certainly has impacted our social and economic lives. It has disrupted the education of children and students at every level. Sadly, it has been politicized in every conceivable manner (consider masking or the choice to vaccinate or not to vaccinate).

Unavoidably, the global pandemic has affected our religious and spiritual lives as well. In the initial months before we understood how to effectively slow the spread of the virus and before we had a single vaccine, churches across the country and around the world were shuttered and Masses were available only virtually. The faithful could receive Holy Communion only spiritually. Thanks be to God, this much is behind us.

Unfortunately, many people have not yet returned to Mass. Perhaps they are still fearful. Perhaps they are angry. Perhaps their faith has been shaken by this traumatic and disorienting experience.

I have been prayerfully pondering all these things in recent months. I have come to recognize that we have been doing battle not only against a deadly virus but against spiritual forces as well. I don’t know where the virus came from, but do I know that the Evil One has capitalized on the pandemic to sow seeds of fear and mistrust and to spread lies to turn us against one another and keep us in thrall to his destructive plan. He is the Father of Lies and delights to see us attacking, maligning, slandering and suspecting one another of ill motives.

I am truly grateful for the scientific, medical and technological developments that have helped the world mobilize against this deadly virus. But, as Christians, we must employ our own spiritual resources in this battle as well. We are battling against principalities and powers that are hell bent on our destruction. We need to unmask the enemy and mobilize against the spiritual forces that are at work seeking to destroy us. The enemy is subtle and clever. What am I referring to? Though there are many possibilities that come to mind, I’ll offer a single example. I think it is a timely example.

The pandemic has put stress on all of us. The return to school has been a very difficult challenge for many parents, teachers, administrators and students in our Catholic schools, as in all schools. Hard decisions must be made to preserve the possibility of safe in-person instruction: masks or no masks, vaccine or no vaccine.

At such a time as this, we are vulnerable to the wiles of the Evil One. He wants to make us his pawns. In order not to fall into his snare, we need refrain from rashly judging or imputing motives to others, from sowing fear and spreading rumors. Our weapons are prayer and fasting. The virtues we need to practice are patience, vigilance and solidarity. Our work as disciples is to build up; the work of the Evil One is always to tear down and sow division. We are called to practice charity in word and deed.

As we move forward, we Christians must not neglect our responsibility to pray for one another, especially for those who have the unenviable responsibility of making tough decisions that will not please everyone (perhaps sometimes hardly anyone). We have rightly applauded our first responders in the medical field during the darkest days of the pandemic. Let’s show our support and appreciation for our teachers, principals and school staff members as well. God is with us.