OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“Here we cry, and we suffer. All of us. We can only get out of this situation together, as a whole humanity and we need to look at each other with a sense of solidarity.” (Pope Francis)
The constantly evolving news surrounding the spread of COVID-19 and the suffering of others can evoke feelings of stress, anxiety and fear. As we talk story with loved ones from a social distance, we may feel lonely and afraid, yet the experience of isolation ironically magnifies the fact that we all belong to one vulnerable human race, and that we are all in this together, as one ohana. Underscoring this truth, is Pope Francis’ extraordinary “Urbi et Orbi” message March 27 on the Gospel passage of Jesus calming the storm. “Like the disciples in the Gospel, we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat … are all of us.”
In this Gospel story, Jesus wakes up, calms the wind and the waters, then turns to the disciples and says: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” Pope Francis reflects, addressing God: “It is easy to recognize ourselves in this story. The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. In this world, that you love more than we do, we have gone ahead at breakneck speed, feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and lured away by haste. We did not stop at your reproach to us, we were not shaken awake by wars or injustice across the world, nor did we listen to the cry of the poor or of our ailing planet. We carried on regardless, thinking we would stay healthy in a world that was sick.”
But Pope Francis points out that in the midst of this storm are many signs of hope. “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 … that can redeem, value and demonstrate how our lives are woven together and sustained by ordinary people — often forgotten people — who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines … but who without any doubt are in these very days writing the decisive events of our time: doctors, nurses, supermarket employees, cleaners, caregivers, providers of transport, law and order forces, volunteers, priests, religious men and women and so very many others who have understood that no one reaches salvation by themselves.”
Across Hawaii, parish food pantries have galvanized in solidarity to feed the hungry amid this pandemic. Aware of social distancing, many have adopted “grab & go” and “drive-thru” distribution. The diocese-sponsored Kupuna Needs project has trained more than 160 volunteers from a dozen Oahu parishes to accompany St. Francis Healthcare and Meals on Wheels in delivering more than 3,600 meals to the elderly in need. Kupuna Needs is also sending people to stand in for older food pantry volunteers so parishes can continue senior food distribution in collaboration with Hawaii Food Bank. Other parish food ministries, such as those on Molokai, work with county and state agencies and Meals on Wheels to serve hungry kupuna and families. On the Big Island, HOPE Services Hawaii is another example of ordinary people doing heroic front-line outreach with the vulnerable homeless in their shelters, and courageous staff participation at COVID-19 testing sites.
Our Holy Father spoke of families experiencing this storm in an inspiring way. “How many people every day are exercising patience and offering hope, taking care to sow not panic but a shared responsibility. How many fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children, in small everyday gestures, how to face up to and navigate a crisis by adjusting their routines, lifting their gaze and fostering prayer. How many are praying, offering and interceding for the good of all. Prayer and quiet service: these are our victorious weapons.”
In the midst of this coronavirus storm, Pope Francis reminds us that Good Friday eventually leads to Easter Sunday. “The Lord asks us and, in the midst of our tempest, invites us to reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of giving strength, support and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be floundering. The Lord awakens so as to reawaken and revive our Easter faith. We have an anchor: by his cross we have been saved. We have a rudder: by his cross we have been redeemed. We have a hope: by his cross we have been healed and embraced so that nothing and no one can separate us from his redeeming love. In the midst of isolation when we are suffering from a lack of tenderness and chances to meet up, and we experience the loss of so many things, let us once again listen to the proclamation that saves us. The Lord asks us from his cross to rediscover the life that awaits us, to look towards those who he is risen and is living by our side look to us, to strengthen, recognize and foster the grace that lives within us.”
In the hope of a revived Easter faith, Pope Francis ended his March 27 message with these inspiring words: “Lord, may you bless the world, give health to our bodies and comfort our hearts. You ask us not to be afraid. Yet our faith is weak and we are fearful. But you, Lord, will not leave us at the mercy of the storm. Tell us again: ‘Do not be afraid.’”
For the full text of the March 27 papal “Urbi et Orbi” message, visit officeforsocialministry.org/holyweek2020. For more on how you can support diocesan organizations accompanying the vulnerable in Hawaii during this pandemic, please go to kupunaneeds.org, stfrancishawaii.org, and hopeserviceshawaii.org. Realizing that we are all in this boat together, let us “look at each other with a sense of solidarity” and have faith in the promise of Easter that we will get through this storm … together … as one ohana in witness to the Risen Christ.
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
