Sadness hangs over world as Lent ends
The long season of Lent is coming to an end.
It seems a long time since we enjoyed Pancake Tuesday and covered our foreheads in ashes on Ash Wednesday.
A sadness is cast over the world. Illness and the threat of illness stalks the land. It is very sad to see people who are sick and dying deprived of the close physical and moral bedside support of their families. Instead, relatives have become outsiders looking in through the windows to the rooms of their beloved from outside.
We are deprived of the intimacy associated with love for those dear to us as they approach death. Even at funerals we experience the anguish of not being able to sit close to and hold near to our hearts those who are bereaved. This virus has attempted to drive a wedge in our society, our families, our country, and our world. The whole world has been turned upside down and inside out.
Things we took for granted - an enforced Lent for the whole world
St Patrick’s Day was cancelled. Mothers’ Day was cancelled. Shops are closed. Schools and colleges are closed. Even the pubs are closed. Sport is at a standstill – no GAA Beo, no Match of the Day, no horseracing, no golf for the dedicated, and no golf even on the telly, no rugby, no gym for the workouts, no cinema, no theatre, no McDonald’s, and no live Church services for people to pray with each other. The only opening is to tune in to the webcam for the various ceremonies.
Lent in 2020 was going out of fashion but it has by compulsion come back with a big bang. All arms of government and voluntary society are at the vanguard of enforcing self-denial by lockdown and helping our neighbour, two of the three pillars of Lent.
The final pillar is making room for God by prayer.
The world has stopped. Time has stood still. Our world seems no longer to be spinning. We suddenly can stop the dizzy spell, get off the treadmill, pause the rat race, and take a breath of fresh air. We can suddenly spend plenty of time with our family. We can read. We can listen to music. We can phone a friend, a neighbor, a colleague.
The world also stopped that first Holy Week, the week of Jesus died. His three great final days were Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday
Holy Thursday – The Last Supper
Jesus left us the Mass and the Eucharist to feed our eternal souls. He also gave us an example of love and service when he washed his disciples feet. One of the positive messages coming to us in this pandemic is the heroic work of the medical profession and of all its ancillary workers. What would we do without good hospitals and the highest standards of medical care? Human suffering needs not just skill but the warmth of human love and service. May God reward all their good deeds.
Good Friday
When I was growing up, Good Friday was a sombre day. All the shops and pubs were closed, everyone fasted from meat and only took one main meal. At three o’clock, the hour Jesus died, a hushed darkness descended on our land as we bowed our heads in sympathy.
Gradually, we let go of this sensitivity to Jesus and retail therapy took over. Cash tills rang their merry jingle as people rushed to buy crates of alcohol like it was going out of fashion. Burger joints did a roaring trade as people ditched any semblance of fasting or abstaining from meat. And Jesus hung on the Cross, a lonely figure with only the few loved ones at his feet.
In 2020, people will suffer and die. Our ecumenical walk bearing witness to the cross of Christ will be forfeited. Our celebration of the Lord’s Passion with the ritual kissing of the cross will be severely curtailed. But the shutdown will give us a chance at 3 p.m. to read and meditate in our own homes, on the Gospel accounts of the death of Jesus.
The existential question of death has elbowed itself into our psyche. The good news for those who choose to believe is that suffering and death will not be victorious because of what happened after Jesus was crucified. Easter Sunday
The first Easter changed history forever. Jesus rose triumphant from the grave. Evil and Death will never again rule our lives. This event is celebrated every Sunday by the friends and followers of Jesus in your local parish. Why don’t you and your family view your parish webcam? You are welcome to join our parish at www.arklowparish.ie.
Regretably, our Ecumenical sunrise celebration on the beach at dawn on Easter Sunday has been cancelled but we await the celebration of the Resurrection with unbounded joy. Things will never be the same again. Let’s give God his rightful place in our lives.
Everything is GIFT, take nothing and no one for granted, your loved ones, your life but most of all GOD. See the world and people through this lens and God will surprise you every day. ALLELUIA!