… the kingdom of heaven is close at hand

(Matthew 10:7)

Covid-19 is proving very stubborn and reluctant to go away. There's a lot of anxiety around, and many are experiencing real economic hardship, even if they aren't suffering from the virus itself. And some are still dying. A lot of people are feeling very bruised at this time. What sort of reassurance can Christian faith give us in these challenging times?

Some Christian groups think the virus is a sign of God's punishment, which it isn't. Others think it is a hoax perpetrated by those who want to see our churches closed, which is not true.  Some religious leaders are telling their followers that faith in the Lord will make it go away; but it is manifestly not going away.

Today's Gospel speaks of the disciples preaching that the kingdom of God is close at hand.  The nearness of God's kingdom is a constant theme in the gospels. It means that the inbreaking of God's love into our world has begun. God's love, for instance, is at work in the doctors and nurses caring for the victims of Covid, and also in the scientists seeking to find a vaccine. God's love, in fact, is present in all those who in any way are helping others through this crisis. 

God, in other words, is at work in the world through us, even in those who may not explicitly believe in Him. That's how God's kingdom is in our midst. God is not going to wave a magic wand to make the virus go away; he wants us to spread his love in the world as we try to combat it. True Christian faith doesn't avoid suffering, it confronts it, as Jesus did on the cross. The virus, in fact, has drawn out of many people resources of love and selflessness they may not have realized they had.

As Pope Francis pointed out on that cold and wet March evening earlier in the year when he addressed the world from an empty St Peter's Square, the virus is making us realize that we need each other. He said, ‘In this storm, the facade of those stereotypes with which we camouflage our egos, always worrying about our image, has fallen away, uncovering once more that (blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging as brothers and sisters.'  That sense of belonging is the presence of God's kingdom among us.

***

A meditation written by Fr Paul Graham O.S.A., Assistant General on the Augustinian Council for Northern Europe, including the Provinces of Ireland, England & Scotland, Poland, Germany, Austria and Slovakia

Follow the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.), Province of England and Scotland  

theaugustinians.org | Facebook | Twitter