Some people may express the belief that, “God will save me from the pandemic.” This statement and the type of belief it expresses is worth serious examination. As a believer in a God of Love, it appears to be a reasonable statement and belief. A deeper analysis however leads us to a clearer understanding of the way God interacts in the world. Firstly, it must be acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic is not God’s doing. Rather, the pandemic is the consequence of human actions. It is offensive to hear the opinion that God punishes human evil by sending a pandemic (and if it is not a pandemic, then it is an earthquake or a tsunami or a flood or ... a whatever). Disastrous events happen. They are the product of an imperfect world which operates on certain laws of nature and physics. When Jesus explained that “God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45) Jesus was making the point that God is merciful and kind, patient and forbearing, rather than being a god of anger and revenge.

After a disastrous event, some people ask, “Why did God allow this to happen?” The premise of this question is that God is meant to control all aspects of life. This is not how things are. God is a god of tenderness. God does not force himself on anyone. God waits for us to invite him into our life. According to Psalm 145, “the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made” (Psalm 145:8-9). Anything that is not freely offered and freely received cannot be an act of love. Love is always a free choice to do that which is good. Whenever a person acts lovingly, she/he is making God present because “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The converse of this is that whenever we act unlovingly, we are excluding God and no longer acting as God’s instrument of good in the world. This year, with our St Patrick’s community’s focus on the Benedictine value of stewardship, we have been using St Teresa’s Prayer as a theme song. These are some of the words of the song: “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world; yours are feet with which he walks to do good.” St Teresa knew full well what it means to be God’s instruments of love in the world.

Saying and believing that “God will save me from the pandemic” is a way for a person to avoid taking responsibility for doing one’s part in addressing the situation. It is a cop out to hand over to God all responsibility for all things. We are in partnership with God. The Old Testament word for this is “covenant” (meaning a pact, an agreement, a contract, and also a “testament”). The covenant has both rights and responsibilities—each party to the covenant has to do their part. This is the way of love. Giving and taking. Love is a verb, and an active one at that. Love is not only to be passively received—it is much more about actions. Acts of generosity, acts of compassion, acts of kindness, acts of care, acts of mercy, acts of peace, acts of acceptance ... all actions that express love. It may appear that we are having to climb a mountain given our current collective circumstances. However, through prayerful support and words of encouragement, we can lend each other a “virtual helping hand”.

Let us continue to care for one another through the “heart work” of stewardship.

Angelo Gattone - Mission Coordinator