How are you doing?

How are you doing? How are you feeling? How are you handling all
of the consequences of COVID-19?

These are some of the questions of the day. We greet each other and inquire about something that we are all experiencing together. While your experience may be different than mine, we have all been affected by the changes that we all must face.

If you did not know it, one result of the adjustments we have been asked to make is grief. We are mourning the loss of control and the loss of “normal.” At the height of the “stay home and stay safe” period, we were required to limit our interactions with others. The streets were quiet, the economy was “depressed,” and so were many of us!

To admit that we were, and perhaps still are grieving, can help us to face the reality of our feelings and the changed quality of our interactions with others. What is it like when grieving people come together? There is a sadness, a diminishment of energy, and a sense of the depression to which I just referred above. Lamenting the death of someone, or the loss of something important, like losing our sense of what is “normal,” makes daily living more burdensome. And, the fact that nearly everyone also is enduring similar feelings, it is difficult to find someone with whom to
“unburden” ourselves. We see the other grieving and we think that we cannot give the other more weight to carry. So, we keep our feelings to ourselves and our life continues to feel heavy.

A few people have come to me to share that their relationship with God has improved during this period. One young woman shared that she had evaluated her activities and thoughts and decided that she wanted to be more purposeful with her life, as a woman of faith. Her prayer life has improved, her participation and attention at Mass has intensified, and her awareness of the need to repent of her sins is more focused. She is a rare one.

Many others have reported that they are questioning their faith in God because of current events. Both the pandemic and the evidence of racism in our society have made them doubt God’s care for the world and for humans. I quickly remind them that God did not send the virus to us. It one of billions of viruses and bacteria that live in the world that have the potential to cause harm. And God did not create “racists.” Racists learn to be racist. Thus, people can learn not be racist. (More to come)

Peace, Fr. Andy