Tonight, because I can’t (read: won’t) sleep, I’m going to take
some time to sit and work through my over-abundant anxiety and
attempt to write. I sat here and carefully listened to a couple of
homilies from Fathers of Mercy priests. Both of these beautiful
homilies really got me where I live, and where I’ve been for a long
time.
While I was
listening to them, I’ve been sitting here thinking a lot – too
much, let’s be honest, yeah? - and decided to clear out my
e-mail. I came across a few things that got me really to pause and
say, ‘Ohhhh…’

I promise
you, I could hear St Catherine, herself, say to me, ‘Rea! What on
earth do you think you’re doing, panicking about this whole thing?
Don’t you remember Who you serve?! Don’t you remember He’s
bigger than all of this? Did you somehow forget that He’s not
blind to what’s happening on earth? GIRL-UP, ALREADY!’
You know what? I’m going to take her advice. I’m going to girl-up.
Now, a little
further down, there was another e-mail that was nestled in that
talked about there’s still good things going on, we just aren’t
noticing them because of how scary things are – and this is okay.
I’m not going to
directly quote this person’s email, but I’m going to follow the
example and focus on a litany of good things that’s going on
currently, things we need to stop and take stock and remember,
‘There’s a lot of scary things happening, yes, absolutely, but
what about the good things still available to us to enjoy?’
Children still
find things to laugh about. My great-nephew, he’s a little
over a year old, I spoke with his Mommy earlier tonight and I could
hear him laughing, playing, and giggling in the background. At one
point, she put the phone up to him so he could be part of the
conversation. I was able to talk to him, to tell him I love and miss
him terribly, but it was good to talk to him. He has no idea what’s
going on in the world, he has no idea how ugly things are at present;
all he knows is he’s loved and he knows that he’s safe.
We still have the
gift of learning. Yes, the CDC is working as hard and as quickly
as they can to find a vaccine for this virus that’s set our world
ablaze with pain and uncertainty, but they’re trying. God
has given us brains to use, intellect, and these amazing people are
trying so hard to save lives.
We still have the gift of technology, so we can still keep in touch and keep tabs on our loved ones, even though ‘social distancing’ is strongly encouraged. We can’t physically enjoy our loved ones’ company, but you know what? We’re forgetting that we have something really cool to enjoy: We have video chat so we can see each other face-to-face, but in a different way.
We still have the gift of technology, so we can still keep in touch and keep tabs on our loved ones, even though ‘social distancing’ is strongly encouraged. We can’t physically enjoy our loved ones’ company, but you know what? We’re forgetting that we have something really cool to enjoy: We have video chat so we can see each other face-to-face, but in a different way.

We have a great
big God Who isn’t blind, at all, to what’s happening. Nor is
He deaf to our cries of, ‘Help us, Lord, please!’ He wants
to help us, He wants us to let Him in so He can clean our
wounds out and do what we aren’t able to do for ourselves. His
statement in the Gospels, ‘Come
to Me, all you who are heavy-laden. I will give you rest.’
It’s not just a simple statement to say, ‘I love you, and
I want to help you,’ it is absolutely and undeniably a COMMAND.
He’s saying, ‘GET
OVER HERE, GIVE IT TO ME, AND LET ME DO THIS FOR YOU!’

There’s still
the gift of movies – show of hands: how many of y’all still
own DVDs and Blu-Rays? Anyone? Come on, don’t be shy. ;) I do,
too. Years ago, when I was starting completely over again, I didn’t
have many films or books to turn to at first, but my collection of
books has vastly grown, and I’ve got a decent little collection of
movies to watch that don’t require an internet connection. And
these collections continue to grow – thanks to friends who know how
much of an avowed nerd I am.

The sun still
rises, we still have the gift and beauty of nature. Our Beloved
Lord continues to bless us with the artwork of Creation to enjoy
everyday. Sure, we can’t enjoy giving each other a hug, we can’t
enjoy the physical proximity of friends to share a coffee with, but
we do have the gift of being able to look out the window and see
trees, grass, and if you’re like me, watching the rain is relaxing,
too. It’s calming to hear raindrops on the window when we’re
trying to settle down for a nap. We still have the gift of hearing
the animals.



Yes, we’re
all terrified. Yes, there’s people we’ve got
concerns about, very real concerns. Honestly, though we are
physically not able to be with those we love, but we can
be with them through prayers for their safety and well-being that we
can’t physically fend off for them. We can invite our Beloved Lord
into the equation – and we most definitely should
– to do what He wants to do for us.
Our Lord loves us,
so fiercely, He’s absolutely thrilled when we come to
Him and say, ‘I can’t.’ He loves it when we hand our
stuff over and let Him take over.

Reader, I’m going
to sign off with the reading from the Marian devotional that my
friend/mentor gave me the other day. Today is the Feast of St
Joseph, her spouse, the patriarch of the Holy Family. In this time
of fear and confusion, let’s turn to him and ask for his
intercession.
JOSEPH … did as
the angel … had commanded him and took Mary as his wife. He did
not know her until she brought forth a Son, and he called Him Jesus.
- Matthew 1.24-25
REFLECTION.
The Church is indebted to Mary
because it is Mary who gave the Church her King, Jesus Christ.
After
the Blessed Virgin, it is to St Joseph that the Church owes the most
gratitude and veneration. -St
Bernardine of Siena
PRAYER.
O Mary, you loved Joseph and depended on him as the head of the Holy
Family at Nazareth. Help me to have a great devotion to him and to
call on him in times of doubt and fear.

This
COVID-19 thing is absolutely the
essence of nightmares, it’s the plague of our times, but we need
to use this time wisely; we
can turn to Him and let Him heal
us. He can heal our brokenness, He wants to embrace us.
He is there for us, and He is allowing this to happen during Lent so
we can see that our ‘social distancing’ from each other is a
great time to embrace the One Who won’t be harmed by the contagions
that are so dangerous. He sees us, He hears us, He
loves us. He is there for us. He’s given us some
amazing things to remember that He’s in charge.
We need to step back, we need to come to Him and rest in Him.
COVID-19 is a pandemic unlike anything we’ve seen in a long, long
time, on earth, but let’s let our faith be an even bigger pandemic
and extinguish the flames of our fear and set our hearts ablaze with
confidence in our Beloved Lord Who wants so desperately to heal our
disease of sin.
Come to Him and rest in Him. He isn’t requesting this. He is
COMMANDING it of us.
We are loved far beyond our finite comprehension. It’s up to us to
accept that love, and let our Beloved Lord once again show us how
much.
I gotta go. My cat’s been bugging me about sleep for the last
several hours. ;)
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