I checked in with a priest who has his finger on the pulse of a hospital or two to ask how medical workers, particularly nurses, are doing this time around as the pandemic continues on.

 

“They are really struggling and worn out dealing with angry people on all sides,” he says.

 

It is heartbreaking to hear of anger spewed upon hard-working, great-hearted people, which many nurses and other medical workers are. Such anger also is happening in schools and some workplaces, but it seems especially over-the-top when the recipients of the anger are trying their best to save the lives of the relatives of and even the lives of the angry people themselves.

 

The pandemic has indeed brought out the best and the worst in people. Some of that worst has been surprising to many who didn’t expect their parent or sibling or child or friend to act the way they have. Probably some of those acting in harmful ways did not expect it of themselves.

 

Whether we have been kind and loving, depressed and withdrawn, frustrated and short-tempered, or even belligerent and explosive — each of us must accept ownership of our actions. God knows all the whats and the whys. He knows how we’ve tried to lift our own and others’ spirits. He knows who has indulged their anger. He knows everyone who has acted to protect others as well as themselves —and those who haven’t cared about anyone except themselves.

 

He knows who has been just plain mean — including each of the plenty who blithely add on to hurtful statements on social media.

 

God also knows how hard it is for nurses and others to carry on for yet another day. He knows all sorrows, those expressed and those hidden. He knows who is lonely, and who could benefit from some alone time. Whatever we are facing in this pandemic is known by God — and He cares. He wants us to turn to Him.

 

If we wake up in the morning and feel pushed toward depression and feelings of hopelessness, let’s call upon Him right away for help.

 

If anger flows into us when something goes wrong or bad news comes, let’s immediately turn to God, seek a quiet place to talk/scream/complain/vent to Him, and get any anger and feelings of hopelessness out, holding them up to Him along with a cry for His help. After all, when faced with a terrible situation that we can’t fix, that can’t be changed, God is the one who can hold us as we explode/cry/scream ... and cry some more. 

 

God can be safely “dumped upon” — and He would much rather we give all that anger and angst to Him instead of blasting it out onto other people. He is big enough to handle it; others may not recover. 

I hope that all of us who have struggled with forgiving those whose carelessness poses a potential threat to others’ wellbeing are able to take those struggles to God as well. 

 

And I hope that nurses and teachers and all others who have been treated badly by people in greater or lesser ways realize God knows what’s going on — and He even can help the toxic and uncaring people repent and do better. God might well be calling us to pray for them.

 

No matter where we are on the spectrum of feelings and actions, we can go to God today, right now and ask for help.

 

All of us have struggled. The pandemic is an evil that is hard to predict, and which has caused great suffering of many kinds. 

 

Naturally we experience lots of negative emotions.

 

But in the midst of all the mess, still we are being watched over and loved by God and prayed for by all in heaven. We Catholics are particularly blessed with sacraments and prayers of all kinds to meet all kinds of dilemmas. We know about heaven and the mercy of God and the great sacrifice of Jesus ... for us!

 

It is up to us to keep getting up each day and trying our best again. God is more than willing to shower graces down upon us to help us do just that.

 

God bless our nurses, other medical professionals and everyone else who do their best to bring assistance and hope to those who are suffering in this time of pandemic.

 

You are the true heroes of each day!