The corona virus has shown us how vulnerable we are. We are going towards a new time. Most people who have had a serious illness are now more thankful for life than before their illness. Once the corona virus disappears, we hope that we will appreciate everyday life more than before. And maybe we will also feel more compassion for our sick and elderly, they are currently most threatened by the virus. We fear that we might lose them. And fear is not the worst feeling we can have. Fear says something about our love: if we like someone, we will also suffer if this person suffers. God loved us and therefore God suffered with us, until the death on the cross.
The corona virus has shown us that it is nice when nothing happens. It WAS nice when nothing happened. The service here in the church is quiet and calm from start to finish. Is it boring therefore? Many think that there should be something more going on in a liturgy. Many think that there should be something more going on in their existence. But why? OK, there is not so much going on in our existence. And thank God for that.
We generally do the same things every day. We get up, go to the bathroom, read the newspaper, come home from work, go to bed and have sometimes strange dreams. Times without “diagnosis” are good times. One of the obsessive ideas of our time is that something always has to happen. “Change” is the magic word. But it is wonderful to live in an uneventful time. We currently have the coronavirus - medically too much is happening in the world right now. If only nothing would happen!
What a fantastic time it is when we can content ourselves with opening the newspaper, content ourselves with reading what was going on on TV and read that the Chancellor made a speech. What a fantastic time this is!
But with the Corona epidemic, it became clear to many that one was living a lie: it is a lie of life if we imagine that we can control our existence counting only on our own help. We don't control life alone. We cannot do it ourselves. On the part of the Church, in view of the corona virus, we should not only ensure that we follow the advice of the health authorities. Charity also means washing your hands and not going to church if you feel infected. But we should also ask God to help us stop the epidemic. We cannot do it ourselves.
We are currently in Lent. Some do without meat and milk and wine. OK! Others do without television and cell phones. Even better! But the best thing to do during Lent is to refrain from lying and tell the truth. Those who say that Corona is inflated by the press and say Corona is a harmless flu are slowly disappearing. God suffers with us; he demands our solidarity with each other. Let us give solidarity to each other, just as God shows solidarity with us.
Wolfgang Felber sj
cf: www.theologie.uzh.ch/static/wp/das-coronavirus-der-alltag-und-die-fastenzeit/