Bulletin Column from Pentecost; May 31, 2020 by Father Nathan

Dear Friends of Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception and Saint Frances Cabrini Parishes:

Those of you who watched or listened to any of my recorded homilies, especially during the Lenten season, heard me say early on that the world as we knew it before Covid 19 has passed away and that going forward all is going to be different.  I stated several times that God is making use of this situation to work on our hearts both as individuals and also as a world.  As we move into June, I still believe my earlier statements are accurate.  We now live, for a long time to come, in the world of Covid.  That will be true even if and when we do get a vaccine.  There is no such thing as a “reset” or “re-start” button on time and history.  No one goes back to where they were previously after passing through an event.  One emerges on the other side of it and is invited to consider what has been learned and what changed, or what needs to change, and one goes forward altered because of it. 

The question is:  what does God want us to learn not only from what we have passed through but also from what our new world looks like?  One lesson that I suspect will be very obvious to us who are believers is that we cannot take our Sacraments for granted.  How difficult it has been to be deprived of them, across such vast swaths of the planet all at once.  Will anyone look at the Eucharist in the same manner ever again?  Hopefully not. 

On a deeper and broader level, the potential lessons grow more nuanced.  What have we learned, and what are we learning, about the hectic pace of the world pre-Covid?  About economic sustainability? About globalization? About a constant deluge of organized or professional athletics? About basic survival skills? About what it means to spend time together as a family?  About what to do with silence?  About what a Sunday rest is supposed to be for, especially when for a long time many of us have ignored the concept?  About the nature of personal and political freedom?  About what really matters in life?  About how fragile life is, and about the limits of science, medicine, and economics which up to now we had thought were infallible?  As I have always said: only God can be God.  

If we do not prayerfully ponder and unpack all of the above, and more, we are foolish.  God is trying to talk to us and to our world.  That continues to be true even after the heaviest of our lockdowns have ended.  As we attempt to push our lives back to what we call “normal,” it is important to ask ourselves very seriously:  how much of it do we want to go back to?  Beyond the question of “can we go back?” (and I say “no”) is the question of “should we go back?”  The answers to those questions are important for us all to consider, as we all make choices about our new present reality.  As Catholics, the teachings of our faith will be our guide as we move ahead.  How generous God is not to leave us orphans, without any truth to guide us.  May we listen carefully to his ever-present voice.

-Father Nathan