A Note From Fr. Vince
Hi everybody. It’s been another week of lockdown. I know that all the possible stressors in our lives are piling on all at the same time. I think it’s great that this time has made us more appreciative of our loved ones. But there’s only so much appreciation we can do! I live alone and all my buttons are being pushed. It was great to see people in New York and other cities show appreciation of care givers by gathering on their balconies at the same time. Now that a month has passed, it’s time to go out on the deck or through an open window and SCREAM! I’ve done it several times and its worked pretty good.
You might ask yourselves if there is any spiritual gain by SCREAMING. I can’t imagine that in all the crises of Jesus’ life, he didn’t go back to the camp with the apostles and just SCREAM. I can’t imagine that God, after seeing the horrible things that humans do, doesn’t want to SCREAM. I can see that you don’t agree. You think that thunder is the result of a bolt of lightning. The ancient peoples thought thunder was the gods mad at them. How silly and unscientific! But can’t it be both. Every time it thunders now I think of God SCREAMING. Even the creator may find times where a good SCREAM helps.
For a person of faith, what matters is what happens after the good SCREAM. Do we just go back to negative thinking? Or are we more like Jesus who lets the frustration roll over him, and then goes back to work. I know what you’re thinking…..that if Jesus goes back to work, he at least has a job. Maybe changing the word ‘job’ to ‘ministry’ makes it sound better. The Easter experience tells us the resurrected power of Jesus has been handed on to us. Jesus just got up the next day and went back at it. His challenge is our challenge. That challenge is for every human person. For Christians, that challenge has been in our lives since our Baptism. It’s simply to bring the virtues, values, and challenges of Jesus into our own lives, and in our own circumstances.
It’s a new world that has been thrust upon us. To say that we will do our best with it might be all we are capable of now. But to do our best asks more of us now more than ever before. How will we be Christ-like? We are all afraid.
We can close our eyes and hear the words of Jesus:
‘Be not afraid!’
The SCREAM is optional!
