Hope in the Time of Corona

This past summer I spent days going through a lifetime collection of stuff: photographs (not digital) from trips, travel, school and family events; clothes from more-slender days; memorabilia from years as a school principal – t-shirts from school festivals, letters from parents, engraved paperweights; and a collection of things I didn’t know what to do with when I received them but needed to do something now! As I reviewed all these “artifacts” of my life, I first felt annoyance with myself for not cleaning them out sooner. But then, I began to consider how all the memories these prompted were evidence of the many opportunities and blessings that God had poured into my life. Instead of complaining (which I did), I needed to use this task as an opportunity to express my gratitude and God’s goodness for the richness of my life.

In today’s gospel, we hear Mary’s heart crying out in joy proclaiming God’s wonders in her life, including those still to come. And if God is so effusive in the gift given her, God’s lowly servant, surely the extravagance of mercy and blessing is not reserved to her! All the lowly, those hungering for God, for mercy, and for the fulfillment of promises made (the covenant), can rest secure knowing that God is ever faithful, that God does not abandon us.

At every stage of our lives we hope for joy and friends and blessed days. These recent years of fear and stress caused by COVID, can make us forget or overlook the incredible gifts that God daily pours into our lives. Hope builds on remembrance and expectation. Perhaps today, like Mary, you might look at the stuff of your life and sing with joy for God’s goodness.

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