May 3, 2020
Follow His Voice
John 10 1-10 (Readings) "I did not come to abolish the law"
Deacon David Lewis
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach / San Diego, CA
Today we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Easter. It is also our seventh Sunday since the
pandemic restrictions forced us to stop attending Mass at Church. I know it is
a little late in the game, but I encourage as you experience Mass at home, to
participate in the Mass as if you were in church: prepare yourself, change out
of your sweatpants or pajamas, take a shower, fast for an hour before hand, put
away the snacks and drinks, and participate fully, kneel, stand, and sit as if
you were in a pew at church. I also encourage you invite your family to attend
Mass together, even in this virtual manner that we find ourselves celebrating
in.
The past several weeks have given many of us great opportunity
to spend time together with and to reunite with our families, some of you have
struggled with new math and involving yourself more in your child’s education
than ever before. Some of you have used your time to catch up on all of the shows
you have been wanting to get current on. Others of you have gone the extra
mile, and caught up on all of those shows and even more that you didn’t even
know existed prior to the pandemic. We have added to our vocabulary many words
and phrases, Covid-19, corona, aerosol and droplets, stimulus,
shelter-in-place, social distancing and flattening the curve. Some of you have
gotten quite adept at working from home, mastering Zoom, and other remote
meeting solutions.
But for some, these last few weeks have been a struggle. Many
of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents have sat alone at home or
in care facilities in retreat from a virus that likely would take advantage of
their vulnerabilities if they are exposed, and so they remain isolated, waiting
to be reunited with friends and family when the risk is lowered. Some have lost loved ones, and not been able
to mourn in the usual way. Others have fought for their life in a battle with
the Corona Virus, while yet others are seeing the end of their savings as the
financial impacts of being out of work runs its course.
It has been a great test of our society. It has provided a
great opportunity to revisit the things that are important to us. Suddenly, the
celebrities, actors, influencers, and sports stars are no longer the essential
things in our lives. Suddenly our family, our friends, and neighbors have
become a lifeline, as things like toilet paper take the top of the list of things
that are important. For others perhaps
their next meal.
I encourage those of you that have escaped the bulk of the
impact of the last few weeks to reach out to your parents, your siblings, your
cousins, your neighbors, long time friends, and co-workers and make sure they
are doing ok, and help them however it is possible. Those of you that can,
continue to help, volunteer at the food pantries, donate blood, run those
sewing machines making masks for those that need them. Please don’t come out of
this without taking advantage of the rare opportunities to learn something new,
build something long in the making, or mend something long in need of repair.
Continue to practice patience with those around you, continue to pray to God as
he offers you hope during this time of what for many is darkness, despair, and
stress.
Don’t let distractions be like thieves that jump over the
wall, stealing this valuable time we have with each other. Focus on the gate, on
God, focus on faith, hope, and love, give focus to those things essential:
friends, family, and faith. Let us remain vigilant of those things that steal
from us, and look for those things that feed us. And most of all let us not
lose focus on Jesus as he calls our name so that we may follow him more
closely.
