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.
Anne Powell of the Cenacle Sisters provides this meditation and challenge:
Being the Body of Christ in this time of Corona Virus
While the Eucharist is one of the most significant places to encounter Christ, it is not the only one. We also receive nourishment from the Word of God. In this time of lockdown when we aren’t able to gather together for Eucharist, we have the opportunity to encounter Christ in the Word. We can transform the world through the collective energy of our love.
SUNDAY READINGS – Fifth Sunday of Lent [A]
1 Ezekiel 37:12-14
Romans 8:8-11
John 11:1-45
Lazarus was dead. Yet through an encounter with Jesus comes an experience of hope when all seems impossible.
Now that Aotearoa NZ is in Level 4 Lockdown, we might gradually begin to see things we want to lock up- conflicts, pollution, greedy consumerism, the hectic pace of life….
During this time, we can dream of new ways of being and doing.
- Listen as Martha speaks her heartfelt sorrow at the death of her brother, Lazarus; but it’s tinged with regret or blame: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.“
- What losses related to the COVID-19 Lockdown are you aware of now?
Even when Jesus tells Martha, “I am the one who raises the dead to life!” she finds it hard to believe he means now, with her dead brother.
Perhaps you doubt that out of this time of restrictions and loss new realities can emerge.
Jesus stands before the tomb weeping, vulnerable. He places no barriers to his feelings about this loss. What’s it like for you to be with him there?
- Imagine that you are standing in front of the “tomb” of your life as it is now with all its restrictions, isolation, fears, dreams and hopes.
- Tell Jesus your feelings, your vulnerability, your desires.
- Gradually, you hear Jesus call your name. This is Jesus who stirs up hope within you, hope during this impossible time. You hear him speak the words to you: “Be freed!”
- Allow Jesus to gift you in some way- a gaze, a touch, a symbol, a word, a blessing.
- As you receive this gift, let hope and love fill you. Open yourself to this new time in your life.
Breathe in the gifts you’ve received.
Notice your breathing. Become aware of where you are and give thanks for the gift of this time of prayer.
Anne Powell
Cenacle Sisters
What image of a New Normal will you take from this prayer?
What part might you play in helping the image become real?
