Here’s
a reflection on social distancing from Brother Richard Hendrick. It was posted
on the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference website.
Lockdown: A Reflection
Yes
there is fear.
Yes
there is isolation.
Yes
there is panic buying.
Yes
there is sickness.
Yes
there is even death.
But,
They
say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You
can hear the birds again.
They
say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The
sky is no longer thick with fumes
But
blue and grey and clear.
They
say that in the streets of Assisi
People
are singing to each other
across
the empty squares,
keeping
their windows open
so
that those who are alone
may
hear the sounds of family around them.
They
say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is
offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today
a young woman I know
is
busy spreading fliers with her number
through
the neighbourhood
So
that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today
Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are
preparing to welcome
and
shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All
over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All
over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All
over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To
how big we really are.
To
how little control we really have.
To
what really matters.
To
Love.
So
we pray and we remember that
Yes
there is fear.
But
there does not have to be hate.
Yes
there is isolation.
But
there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes
there is panic buying.
But
there does not have to be meanness.
Yes
there is sickness.
But
there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes
there is even death.
But
there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake
to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today,
breathe.
Listen,
behind the factory noises of your panic
The
birds are singing again
The
sky is clearing,
Spring
is coming,
And
we are always encompassed by Love.
Open
the windows of your soul
And
though you may not be able
to
touch across the empty square,
Sing.
Brother
Richard Hendrick, 13 March 2020 https://www.catholicbishops.ie/2020/03/16/prayer-resources-for-use-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/
