Pope Francis crosses St. Peter’s Basilica on his way to celebrate Mass at the tomb of St. John Paul II May 18, 2020, the 100th anniversary of the late pope’s birth. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“The lives of millions of people, already facing numerous difficult challenges in our world and oppressed by the pandemic, have changed and are being severely tested. Those most vulnerable are at risk of paying the highest price. In these days, looking at the poorest can help us all become aware of what’s really happening to us and of our true condition.” (Pope Francis, “Life after the Pandemic,” April 2020
Over the past two months, this Talk Story column has shared compelling examples of living the faith in Hawaii under the threat of COVID-19, illumined by the Holy Father’s reflections on the pandemic’s impact on the entire human family. Now eight of Pope Francis’ latest writings have been compiled in an inspiring booklet titled “Life after the Pandemic,” with a persuasive preface by his friend Cardinal Michael Czerny. According to the cardinal’s introduction, these papal writings “suggest direction for rebuilding a better world that might be born from this crisis of humanity” and “in the midst of so much suffering and bewilderment, to sow hope.”
Cardinal Czerny calls Pope Francis’ writing “warm and inclusive” and “does not reduce people to bits to be counted, measured and managed, but binds everyone together in humanity and spirit.” Instead, he says, “the pope challenges everyone — no matter how high or humble — to dare to do good, to do better.” The preface highlights the Holy Father’s “ability to see and hear many who are usually kept silent and invisible … addressing each and everyone directly … with fatherly affection and compassion to make his own the suffering and sacrifice of so many people.”
The preface points out the pope’s description of a human family album that includes a special focus on the elderly and those who are alone and especially vulnerable. The pope lifts up “persons who work in nursing homes, or live in barracks and prisons … doctors, nurses, supermarket employees, cleaners, caregivers, providers of transport, law and order forces, volunteers, priests, religious men and women, fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers … 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.”
In his reflections, Pope Francis recognizes the challenge of social distancing, but also compassionately considers the most vulnerable, saying: “how difficult it is to stay at home for those who live in tiny, ramshackle dwellings, or for the homeless! I think of all the people, especially women, who multiply loaves of bread in soup kitchens: two onions and a package of rice make up a delicious stew for hundreds of children. I think of the sick, the elderly, small farmers and their families who work hard to produce healthy food without destroying nature, without hoarding, without exploiting people’s needs.”
The preface underscores our Holy Father’s call to “be profoundly shaken by what is happening all around us and recognize ourselves as part of a single family and support one another. The time has come to eliminate inequalities, to heal the injustice that is undermining the health of the entire human family! Now, facing the pandemic, we have widely and vividly experienced our inter-connectedness in vulnerability. Much of humanity has responded to that vulnerability with resolve and solidarity. We have proven that we can do it, we can change, and it is now for us to translate those traits into a permanent conversion of resolve and solidarity to cope with the larger and longer-term threats.”
Cardinal Czerny also echoes the pope’s hopeful call to seek a new and better reality, not returning to the old normal: “After what we have already been through this year, we should not be afraid to venture out on new paths and propose innovative solutions. … Let us not take togetherness for granted in the future but rediscover it and find ways to strengthen it. Our life after the pandemic must not be a replica of what went before. Let us show mercy to those who are most vulnerable; for only in this way will we build a new world.”
The booklet concludes with a final message of hope through these prayerful words from Pope Francis: “If we act as one people, even in the face of other epidemics that threaten us, we can make a real impact. May we find within us the necessary antibodies of justice, charity and solidarity. We must not be afraid to live the alternative — the civilization of love. In this time of tribulation and mourning, I hope that you will be able to experience Jesus, who comes to meet you, greets you and says: ‘Rejoice.’ And may this greeting mobilize us to invoke and amplify the Good News of the Kingdom of God.”
For a full PDF version of Pope Francis’ booklet, “Life After the Pandemic,” please go to vaticannews.va/content/dam/lev/la-vita-dopo-la-pandemia/pdf/INGLESE_11_05.pdf.
For more on Covid-19 responses in Hawaii, please see officeforsocialministry.org/covid-19.
Mahalo,
Your friends from the Office for Social Ministry
