It is clear that businesses which exist to make a profit do not always have our best interests at heart. So let us be cautious about these ads. Let us not be taken in by false claims of being cared for as suggested by the television advertisements. Rather, it is family, friends and neighbours who are for us the true source of support and care. It is our closest relationships (and not businesses and institutions) that have our best interests at heart. Let us be thankful to the people who really do care for us.

Of the many lessons gifted to us during this time of isolation and pandemic, perhaps the most important awakening has been the realisation that the many people in our lives who matter the most are the ones we too often take for granted. We have come to realise who are the “essential” people in our society: health care workers (doctors and nurses), supermarket workers, cleaners, delivery drivers. Some on this list may surprise us as they are some of the poorest paid in our society. Thankfully, they are now recognised as “essential workers” and hopefully they will continue to be praised for their efforts and no longer be taken for granted.

Consequently, in remarking that “we’re all in this together”, we are recognising that which connects us all as people—the need to be cared for, nurtured and respected, no matter what our station is in life. We all share a common dignity and worth. This has been the Christian message for the past two thousand years. Jesus came that we may know our true worth and dignity. Jesus is for us the one who calls us to “love one another”. Jesus also calls us to be servants to one another in the same way as Jesus demonstrated for us at the Last Supper by his washing of the feet of his disciples.

Angelo Gattone - Mission Coordinator