As we continue to go through the gradual reopening of society and even of our churches in the wake of the outbreak of the coronavirus, we need to continue to ask ourselves, “What have we learned?” 

 

What are the spiritual lessons that we need to see in this historic but not unprecedented moment of a pandemic? Perhaps our first lesson must be simply to ask that very important question. 

 

Our faith brings us to the conviction that things do not “just happen.” There are no real accidents or coincidences. 

 

In good moments and bad God is always working with us, forming our souls and giving us the grace that we need. The pandemic is no exception. And so we have to start by opening our souls and asking God what are we to learn from each day, each challenge?

 

In asking that question, we realize that we have a road map for our response to difficulties and uncertainties. For example, in First Peter we read “... humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you (1 Pt 5: 6-7). 

 

That letter of course was written to the early Church community. The early followers of Jesus had already begun to endure the first persecutions and social rejections from non-believers so the issue was as real to them as suffering is to us. 

 

However, by reaffirming that God is not absent or uncaring, we approach hardship differently. We are able to work hard and strive to be faithful. At the same time we develop a real sense of serenity. We truly cast our worries upon God with a recognition different from this world or those without faith. 

 

We deeply believe that God will not allow us to be tested beyond our strength nor to suffer what is not for our good. Even more, we see this as part of the path to the eternal joy of the Father’s house that Jesus has told us about.

 

In the case of the last three months of sheltering in place, of people becoming ill and even dying, and of, at times, devastating economic hardship, one of the great lessons has been the loss of future plans or life projects. Either for us personally or for others that we know, many have lost the businesses or the savings that were going to be the basis for their final years. Others have lost a loved one they were planning to enjoy time with. Schools might have to be changed for children, or new jobs sought.

 

Many of those losses represent good and holy efforts to prudently build a life now and a basis for the future. Still, the lesson is that ultimately God is the one we must trust and seek. We cannot rely solely on our own efforts and human plans.

 

Psalm 127 famously reminds us, “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build. Unless the Lord guard the city, in vain does the guard keep watch” (Ps 127: 1).

 

Our society has greatly prided itself on medical, scientific and material progress. But it has increasingly diminished the attention given to God and to our souls. As a result, we are tempted to trust greatly in ourselves and in the things of this world, not in God.

 

There are many worries that come with the current crisis. We need to support each other and the most needy in responding to them. But above all, we place our trust in God. He desires our good and has made us for salvation. For many, this is a helpful call to return to a healthy spiritual perspective that we may have let slip away.