More than 180 countries are affected by the coronavirus. We are witnessing immense suffering. More than a 100,000 have died. Thousands more are on ventilators.
We have seen nothing like it. We don’t know what the future holds. We live in fear and anxiety. We have distress and low-grade depression. We are experiencing some loneliness. We have physical isolation. We work remotely. There is panic in the air.
Our churches are shut down. There are no public Masses. There are no public novenas. There are no public recitations of the rosary.
We feel the spiritual emptiness. There is a felt hunger for the Eucharist. We hunger for the touchable comfort and protection of God.
How do we cope with the loss and the fear and the loneliness? How can I find meaning in all of this suffering and in all of this death?
We need to remember that we may not be able to control the nature of this aggressive and deadly virus. But we can control how we are responding to it. Each one of us can control how we are reacting to this contagious and deadly virus.
We need to keep in mind the teachings of a fourth century Greek philosopher who claimed, “We are disturbed by our thoughts and not by the external events.”
He is teaching us that we can respond in a more meaningful way to the crisis when we enhance our awareness of our thoughts and our emotions and erase our negative thoughts.
Simply, you can start by making a catalogue of your daily fears and your daily negative thoughts. You make the lists because your need to get to know your fears. You need to get to know your anxieties. You need to get to know the disturbing thoughts that trigger your fears and your anxieties.
Just noting your fears and just letting them come to the surface helps reduce some of the anxiety you are experiencing. Just exploring what you are telling yourself at this time of confusion is helpful.
Change our thoughts and we change our emotions. Change our emotions and we change our habits. Change our habits and we change our lives. Change our lives and we become easier to live with and better and holier. It is then we are absorbing the good things in our lives and all around us.
This is the time to take in all the loving-kindness that is so evident all around us. There are so many reaching out to help one another. Neighbor is helping neighbor.
Many are going the extra mile to aid and support the elderly and the homebound. Many are opening up and talking to one another. They are talking about their families and about their fears and about their anxieties. Many are shopping for one another. They are going to the grocery store for each other. They are picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy for each other. So much compassion and so much support.
Our nurses and our doctors and first responders and all in public service are an inspiration to all of us. They inspire us with their courage and with their care and with their concern for the sick and the dying.
They are modeling for us how to be selfless and how not to be self-absorbed. They are teaching us how move away from meaninglessness.
Take in and soak up the many wonderful and uplifting things that are happening to us and all around us. Notice them and rejoice in them and celebrate them.
This kind of thinking and behavior can help us replace our habitual negative thoughts. This can enable us to have a more positive view in the midst of this horrific crisis. That can be a huge challenge as well as a huge blessing even for the healthiest among us.
Keep in mind you can always take a break from your habitual thinking. Instead of over-focusing on the outside world of the coronavirus you can look to Christ. Look to the Christ who died for us. Look to the Christ who rose for us. Look to the Christ who loves us. Look to the Christ who is with us always.
This can truly be a time for more intense prayer and meditation. We can transform the mind in a positive way through prayerfully and reflectively reading the four Gospel stories of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Or, you may want to read the story of your favorite saint.
Daily you can pray the Mass online. Daily, you can make a spiritual communion. You can desire God. You can desire a heartfelt experience of the presence of God. Daily, you can pray the Rosary.
You can always pray the Divine Mercy Prayer. Divine mercy comes to us from the cross, comes to us from the heart of Jesus. It is always there washing all over us. All we have to do is ask and open and receive.
Jesus did say, “Ask and you will receive.” Believe and you will receive. “Even though, I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side,” says the Psalmist.
With some of these regular spiritual awareness and practices we gradually become more spiritually and more mentally healthy in this unprecedented time of ours.
Msgr. Thomas J Morgan is a retired pastor of the Diocese of Camden.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
