COURAGE Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

This present health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, has pushed mankind to its limits. It has made obvious our utter helplessness. However, the beautiful thing is, this can be God’s way of inviting us, His people, to go back to the basics of our faith. This should challenge us to reconsider our ultimate aim: Heaven.

Truly, this pandemic has a terrible repercussion in our lives nowadays. Totally unprecedented, this brings about unnecessary fear and anxiety in many of us. Some, after losing their jobs, are driven into depression. Countless relationships have been shaken because of this. More families have been ushered into abject poverty. And in the midst of panic and uncertainty, we can observe our natural tendency to creep to our “survival of the fittest” mode.

Yet, in the midst of this very difficult situation, the beauty of our faith emerges. Our Christian traits become even more significant than ever. In a generation driven by ego, status, achievement, pragmatism, travel, technology, etc., COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the impermanence of earthly life in a straightforward yet subtle way. “Everything, even the smallest occurrence, has a human and divine meaning,” said St. Josemaria Escriva. Purely human reality is meaningless unless it is infused with the mystery of God. All our efforts and achievements, no matter how great, are void unless they are connected with the divine. Contemporary man has tried to seek meaning in worldly affairs and consolations, but only God can quench his thirst for eternity. Human experiences, rich they may be, are all temporary. St. Augustine’s exclamation is always refreshing: “Oh Beauty ever-ancient, ever-new! My heart is restless until it rests in You.”

Despite the hustle and bustle brought about by the present crisis, it is good to be reminded that “we do not have a dwelling place here, but we seek that which is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). This should be enough to console us. Clinical psychologists classified fear of death as one of the leading fears of man. And in view of this pandemic when physical death may just be around the corner, our hope rested in Christ’s resurrection should help us to remain calm. In the Gospel, our Lord exhorts us “not to be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul.” In his homily, Archbishop Socrates Villegas aptly puts it: “The worst thing that can happen to us now is not to contract COVID-19 and die from it, but to commit sin, fall from the grace of God and not be able to enter Heaven.”

We salute — and we continually pray for — our fellows in the frontlines who brave the probability of death by remaining committed to their call of duty. As for us, we continue to diligently do our individual parts in addressing this pandemic. And as Christians, we must focus our gaze on Jesus, our dear Redeemer Who sometimes allows His people to experience pain and dark moments for them to cling even more to His Mercy. Mother Mary, refuge of sinners, help us to take courage! (Lemuel Asdang)