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Each weekday for the next 14 days, Father James Lyons (Wellington) will be helping us reflect on God’s Word while we are in lockdown. What is God saying to us as we globally unite to defeat Covid-19? SPACE BUBBLE SETTING: create a small enclosure, placing the cross in the centre. Let this represent your “bubble”, the space you inhabit during this lockdown period. Prayer of Praise: My heart is ready, God to sing and play and thank you. Your steadfast love is higher than the heavens and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Let your glory be over the earth to bring rescue to those you love. Help us in this hour of crisis for we can do nothing without you. [verses from Psalm 108] Astronauts live socially isolated. Orbiting the earth, they are locked in space, far away from loved ones and their usual activities. At this time, New Zealand and many other countries are in a lockdown situation, with people told to stay in their homes. Treating home as a bubble, illustrates the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic. Keeping yourself isolated lessens the chance of contracting or passing on the disease. The message is clear: stay bubbled-up in this locked-down world of ours!

Each weekday for the next 14 days, Father James Lyons (Wellington) will be helping us reflect on God’s Word while we are in lockdown. What is God saying to us as we globally unite to defeat Covid-19? SPIRIT FRUITS SETTING: write each of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, gentleness, trustfulness, self-control) on separate cards. Scatter them among several lit candles in your prayer space. Prayer of praise: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, You fill each day with your gift of light, freeing those living in a land of deep shadow. You make their gladness greater You make their joy increase. I praise and thank you for your great goodness. [see Isaiah 9:1-7]   This prayer reflection centres on the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit. Like all fruit, they are food for health and well-being, to be savoured and enjoyed. Take time to identify and enjoy the taste of each. Some will quickly suit your palate; others will take more time to appreciate. You are invited to take them in any order. You could perhaps spread this prayer throughout the day, sampling and exploring one fruit at a time. Over-eating is not a problem with these fruits; you can never have enough as most of them take a lifetime to mature.

Each weekday for the next 14 days, Father James Lyons (Wellington) will be helping us reflect on God’s Word while we are in lockdown. What is God saying to us as we globally unite to defeat Covid-19? THE UNEXPECTED SETTING: Create a party atmosphere with a few decorations. Wrap up some “gifts” or “presents”. Recall the surprise of opening gifts, of meeting the unexpected. Prayer to begin: So much in life is unexpected and I suspect, dear God, that you planned it so. You are, after all, a God of surprises, revealing yourself in countless ways, in colours and shapes, in light and shade, in people and places and in life’s situations. Even in this troubled time that no one could foresee, I know you will guide us along a new path, to a new and fuller way of living. Ready me during this unexpected time to love better, serve better, live better.   William Shakespeare, in Cymbeline, wrote, Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered. Covid-19 arrived on our shores unannounced and uninvited and is certainly not regarded as a guest. Given that the virus had already infected several countries we might have expected it to make its way to us, but we did not expect to have the nation so quickly shut down with virtually everyone told to stay at home! We did not expect the situation to become so serious.

Each weekday for the next 14 days, Father James Lyons (Wellington) will be helping us reflect on God’s Word while we are in lockdown. What is God saying to us as we globally unite to defeat Covid-19? A NEW NORMAL Prayer in praise of this day: Jesus, Saviour and Brother You came to call us to life and to open our eyes that we might see anew the gifts that surround us and bind us together as parts of one body. Another day of isolation and separation dawns. May we accept it as yet a further gift to strengthen our resolve to put aside differences, to remove the barriers of greed and prejudice, to value our togetherness and to live life as one people.   The prayer form today is woven round the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Regardless of which day you make this prayer, the theme is apt for this critical time. The national LOCKDOWN makes us look at life from the point of view of isolation, being alone, without social contact. Some recognise this extreme way of living as an enlarged image of how we have been living for several decades: as though other people weren’t important enough to hold my attention; that life was about me and my success! So many of us have been living in an invisible bubble; isolated without knowing or acknowledging the fact. Hardly normal, as we’re now finding out. The LOCKDOWN is an opportunity to create a new normal.

Each weekday for the next 14 days, Father James Lyons (Wellington) will be helping us reflect on God’s Word while we are in lockdown. What is God saying to us as we globally unite to defeat Covid-19? JOY TO THE WORLD Setting: decorate your prayer space with images and colours to create a joyful atmosphere. Perhaps drape a white cloth over the crucifix to show the link between suffering and joy. Prayer in praise of a new day: Praise and glory to you, Christ Jesus. Your coming among us was news of great joy for all the world and your continuing presence is a constant source of joy even in difficult times. Though containing the Virus means limiting personal contacts and choices, I give praise for this new day. Help all of us to see you present in this challenging moment. Keep our hearts joyful.   Two spiritual giants and Nobel Prize Laureates, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu spent a week together, in 2015, at the Dalai Lama’s home in Dharamsala, India. They had arranged the visit to coincide with the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday and to spend the time discussing and exploring the question: how do we find joy in the face of life’s inevitable suffering?

Each weekday for the next 14 days, Father James Lyons (Wellington) will be helping us reflect on God’s Word while we are in lockdown. What is God saying to us as we globally unite to defeat Covid-19? THE NAME OF GOD IS MERCY Setting: crucifix and candles with some violet or purple cloth, palms or other greenery. Prayer in praise of this day: A new day signals freshness and the chance to make a new start. I want so much to leave behind the fear, the anger, the upsets and unloving thoughts I have allowed to enter this time of isolation. Cleanse me, merciful God. Flood me with your calming Spirit. Free me from any sense of isolation that I may feel and know your presence and the embrace of your mercy.   In a conversation that became a book in 2016, The Name of God is Mercy, Pope Francis told journalist, Andrea Tornielli, that he thought of the Church as a field hospital, where treatment is given to those most wounded. He pointed out that Jesus declared himself as having come, not for the healthy who do not need the doctor, but for the sick. [Mark 2:17]

Each weekday for the next 14 days, Father James Lyons (Wellington) will be helping us reflect on God’s Word while we are in lockdown. What is God saying to us as we globally unite to defeat Covid-19? SHOCK, LOSS, CONFUSION Setting: The crucifix, in the centre of your prayer space, should be the only object displayed during this session. Prayer in praise of another day: Glory and praise to you, O God. You gift me with a new day to discover more about myself and to ponder the mystery of your love. As this time of isolation continues, I am feeling the loss of my independence and am confused by my inability to live a normal life. Yet, my desire to praise you rises strongly in my heart. For I trust your goodness and believe that, as the Good Shepherd, you will guide us to fresh and green pastures. Glory and praise to you, O God.   Shock, loss, confusion are words used by Daniel O’Leary in the introduction to his final book, Dancing to My Death (2019). He used them to describe “a routine that is suddenly up-ended and knocked entirely off track.” This Irish born priest, teacher and bestselling author was referring to his 2018 cancer diagnosis and his book invites the reader into an emotional and extremely “raw” conversation as the tumour progressed to take his life in January 2019.