Fr. Michael Schleupner is a presenter at our Center and will be with us this summer for our August Directed Retreat. You can click here to learn more. He shares spiritual insights through weekly eNewsletters and graciously shares those with our audience too. Here, he reflects about recent thoughts from Pope Francis and how we can use lessons from scripture to recognize community members during the pandemic.
Living Through This
These were from an address which the Holy Father directed to the entire world on March 27 about the coronavirus crisis. The context of the Pope’s reflections is the Gospel of Mark 4:35-41 – Jesus in a boat with the disciples when the water becomes very rough and frightening.
Here are some more of Francis’ reflections.
“We can look to so many exemplary companions for the journey, who, even though fearful, have reacted by giving their lives. This is the force of the Spirit poured out and fashioned in courageous and generous self-denial. It is the life in the Spirit that can redeem, value and demonstrate how our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people – often forgotten people…How many people every day are exercising patience and offering hope, taking care to sow not panic but a shared responsibility…How many are praying, offering and interceding for the good of all. Prayer and quiet service: these are our victorious weapons.”
Each of us could cite many “ordinary…often forgotten people” who are “exemplary companions for the journey” that we are now on.
Today I am thinking of:
Parents who are at home, maybe doing their jobs out of the house, maybe still going out to work at an essential business, maybe out of work and a paycheck, and now providing additional care for their children who are out of school;
And
Food service workers, like farmers and farm workers, workers in meatpacking and canning and frozen food plants, truckers delivering food sometimes over long distances to where it is needed, those in supermarkets who manage the store and stock the shelves and check out customers’ orders, those preparing and serving and delivering carry-out food.
Let’s remember in our prayer these and all persons like them.
Let’s thank God for them and ask God to keep them well and protect them.
May the peace and healing action of Christ be with us! Amen.
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1 reply on “Living Through This”
Thank You for sharing Pope Francis reflection on Mark’s gospel account of the apostles in the boat with Christ during a storm. Yes, we are all in this storm together – different boats – but the same storm. If we could remember that Christ is with us – and that Christ can replace our fear with faith, hope, and trust. We all have different lessons/in different boats to learn in this storm – one of which is to be like Christ – and help others who are feeling fear, worry, concern – to know that Christ will give them the strength they need to survive the storm – in their boat.