Hope in the Time of Corona

In the readings for last Sunday, the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (the 14^th of August), Jesus, like the prophet Jeremiah, and even the Apostle Paul, shows himself to be one unconcerned with disturbing the status quo, thereby incurring the hostility of those who wish to preserve it. Indeed, in the words of the Ordo (Book 28, p. 189), it is as if He is encouraging us to grow neither despondent nor succumb to the temptation to abandon the struggle to establish the Kingdom/Reign/Dominion of God on earth in our own day. We must never become discouraged by our lack of results or the pushback we will inevitably experience.

No! A Divine Fire has been ignited on the earth by the Lord that engulfs all that is contrary to the values of “Your will be done on earth as it is Heaven,” illuminating the path forward for the Pilgrim People of God and which warms us in the cold watches of the night.

That Divine Fire was ignited in our soul at the moment of our baptism when the Spirit of the Living God embued us as the Flames of Fire hovered over those in the Upper Room on the day of the First Pentecost. We are, literally, on Fire!

Yet, it can be challenging to be “on fire for the Lord,” can’t it?

Look at all of that which seems to conspire against us! Climate change; political and social polarization; an economy seemingly in tatters; famine; war; natural disasters; a global pandemic that runs rampant; new threats to our health like Monkeypox; those who eschew people of faith, and on, and on and on.

Though the readings exhort us not to be discouraged or to abandon the struggle, it is so hard, isn’t it?

What do we do?

We turn toward the Lord who has filled us with Divine Fire and to one another!

The lyric of the Reprise from the epic musical Les Miserables comes to mind:

Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light
For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise.

They will live again in freedom
In the garden of the Lord
They will walk behind the plough-share
They will put away the sword
The chain will be broken
And all men will have their reward!

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Do you hear the people sing
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes!
Tomorrow comes! [Italics added for emphasis]
 (See: Les Miserables reprise lyrics - Search (bing.com)


There is hope! “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob (and Leah!) is our stronghold (Ps. 46). We can trust this! It is the future to bring in the darkness of the night!

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