One of the most striking memories of this pandemic will be for me the words delivered by Pope Francis when he prayed for an end to the virus in St. Peter's Square a few weeks ago. I thought the readers of this blog might take further consolation and hope from them as well. -- Fr. Tom
“For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities. It has taken over our lives. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel, we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. ‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’ Lord, you are calling us, calling us to faith.
We can look to so many exemplary companions for the journey, who, though fearful, have reacted by giving their lives – ordinary people – often forgotten people – who do not appear in newspaper and magazine headlines but who without any doubt are in thee very days writing the decisive events of our time: doctors, nurses, supermarket employees, cleaners, care-givers, 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 themselves.
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 navigate a crisis by adjusting to new 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.
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.
Dear brothers and sisters, from this place that tells of Peter’s rock-solid faith, I would like this evening to entrust you all to the Lord, through the intercession of Mary, Health of the People and Star of the stormy sea. From this colonnade that embraces Rome and the whole world, may God’s blessing come down upon you as a consoling embrace. May he give health to our bodies and comfort our hearts. There will be no shipwreck.
