Fr. Phil’s Doers of the Word
Palm Sunday. “… I am not disgraced.” Isaiah 50:7
On Palm Sunday, April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army. The surrender ended the bloodiest war ever fought on American soil. State against state, brother against brother. It was a conflict that literally tore our nation apart. But that Palm Sunday, the nation rejoiced.
Five days later, Good Friday, April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln, who gave us the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address, was assassinated. On Palm Sunday the war ended; there was happiness. On Good Friday, Lincoln was killed; there was tragedy.
In 1942, American troops marched into London singing. The people of London are cheering the soldiers. Suddenly the troops turn into a main street and a strange silence overcomes the men. They look at a bombed area. Sadness overtakes them. One moment, happiness; the next, sadness.
We were living our normal daily and weekly routine: work, worship and study. Three places where we find joy outside the home: the work place, church and school. One day all is well, the next day a virus changes our lives.
Today we start our most Holy Week of contrasts. No palms. No shouting of “hosanna” or “crucify him”. Some of us might shout, “Begone, Virus!” One moment, all is well, the next moment, all virus breaks loose! The churches are empty. We linger in our homes. We wonder, ponder and ask when will it end? Holy Week 2020. A week like all weeks, filled with those events, that will alter and illuminate our lives. How? We will find out by keeping calm, faithful and prayerful.
Am I my brother’s keeper, asks an ancient bible story? My brother and my sister’s keeper: Yes! Are companies, communities and countries being asked this question in the midst of the pandemic? How will they answer? How will we answer? The love of God overcomes all. Is the virus a wake-up call for humanity? As we sit at home we pray as Isaiah “The Lord God is my help …”
In a letter of March 28 to Judge Roberto Andres Gallardo, Pope Francis warns of “a viral genocide” if governments put the economy before the people amid the coronavirus pandemic. He mentions a book by Mariana Mazzucato entitled, The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy. The Pope thinks that her vision could help us think about the future. It’s worth a try! We need all the help we can get.
