To quell the terror
The media is abuzz with horrifying news from and about India. What is really happening? Are the media reporting news with any bias? Or is there more than what meets the eye? Here is a letter from one of our confrère stationed in India. It is bigger than a mere Covid threat. It is true people are greatly suffering. The situation may have been caused by various factors but the solution is but one – Prayer.
Dear Friends,
For four months or so, there had been very little out of the ordinary routine. “Men may come, and men may go,” but the mission goes on for ever. This seems to be the motto that has moved our rather monotonous yet busy life. And this has now come to a grinding halt. The government imposed another ‘disastrous’ lockdown, which forced our churches to be shut. In spite of that, we still have classes for the religious souls, children and the usual pastoral duties which are not severely hampered. Deo Gratias! But outside the priory, the life is altogether different. ‘Panic’ is the one word that well-summarises the situation. Is this devastating panic an orchestrated one? Only God knows. Regardless of its origin and cause, the panic is wreaking everyday havoc…and severe damage is being done to bodies and souls!
The catastrophe unfolding in India appears to be the worst-case scenario that many feared from the Covid-19 pandemic, perhaps caused not by the ‘double variant’ but by the poor politics which neglects the ‘common good’. The virulent second wave is not what is devastating the country as many are claiming, but lack of virtue in the ruled and the ruler. To many of them, politics is seen as a ‘easy way of making money’ and ‘to establish their will over and above what is essential for any society to operate peacefully’. It is the panic and pride that feeds this catastrophe. Is there a really ‘shortage of oxygen?’ Yes, there is! Why? One simple answer: hoarding! What is the panacea for this and all other problems that ravage our country? Fraternal charity – the same that made once this universe a better place and its absence is causing life to be a living hell - love your neighbour as yourself. The idea that "nobody is loved until everybody is loved" is a lesson we have learned from this pandemic. Charity is patient, is kind … seeks not her own. It is universal – hates no one – even her enemies are loved. And this is the lesson we must learn from the Sacred Heart. The need of the hour is not the oxygen that vivifies our lungs, but charity that vivifies our soul, our nation… And this needs to be imported, not from other nations via airlift – but from heaven and heaven alone!
Who is responsible for this calamity, overall? Everyone is. Heaven is waiting to help – but who is asking for it? Where are the victim souls that storm heaven for ‘Supernatural oxygen!’ If there is none to be found thus far, let us be the first ones. Let us step forward! Let us try to quell the ‘divine anger’ by our prayers. After all, we too, can make this daring intervention: Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked? If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein? Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked, this is not beseeming thee: thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment. (Gen. 18:23-25).
With my priestly blessings,
Fr. Therasian+
