Happy New Year! We have just journeyed through the beginning of a new church year with Advent and the quiet waiting for the coming of the Lord as a helpless baby. We then celebrated the Christmas season joyfully, uniquely, as we followed Jesus from infancy to childhood and baptism as a grown man. We, now in Ordinary Time, watch Jesus’ ministry. We watch almost an entire life proceed in a few short weeks and will soon follow His brief journey in ministry before He is unjustly condemned and brutally crucified.
The pandemic has slowed everything. Interestingly, while it has been almost one year since Canadians were plunged into this “horseman of the apocalypse,” I can almost feel every moment in January and February 2020 when I knew not of this impending danger. I look at nearly everything these days in relation to how my family and League sisters are managing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some days are better than others. New Brunswick had been relatively unscathed until this month, mostly due to the sacrifices mandated by the provincial government and taken upon themselves by the citizenry. The province began in the red phase (total shutdown), then to orange with a bit more freedom and then yellow, an almost normal period. It has since reverted to the orange phase for many reasons, no doubt common to most provinces and territories.
I have learned a lot about myself during this time. I often question whether my faith is lacking when I have fears for myself, my family and my League sisters. I pray more fervently that this scourge will leave us with a new respect for all life and the liberty with which Canadians are blessed. I am more thankful for the little blessings that make each day palatable even when our movement is restricted. Can I learn something new? Can I listen more intently and learn something new from the homilies of my parish priests, Cardinal Thomas Collins (Toronto) and other clergy I have been blessed to hear? Can I breathe deeply and let all the stress in my body leave so I may relax?
I, too, have felt the same stress or similar stresses as my nearly 70,000 sisters. I know that everyone has coping mechanisms to manage during stressful times like these. Whether angry outbursts to whomever, prayer, exercise, y be, I have confidence: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid” (Mark 6:50).
God bless and take heart until next time…
