“In the Time of Pandemic” by Kitty O’Meara
And the people stayed home. And they listened, and read books, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And they listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.
For a brief interview of the author: https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/5/7/21230350/coronavirus-pandemic-lockdown-poem-and-the-people-stayed-home-kitty-omeara
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We will share the Letter to the Hebrews over the next six weeks at Mass on Sunday. The Letter is assumed to have been directed initially to Jewish Christians, and to a much lesser extent to Gentile Christians. Because it is the Word of the Lord, however, we trust that it is addressed, genuinely, to all believers.
The author of the Letter saw the “addressees” in danger of losing their faith; that, in fact, is what prompted the Letter. The danger of the loss of faith was due not to any persecution from outsiders, but to a weariness with the demands of Christian life and a growing indifference among the people (Hebrews 2,1; 4,14; 6,1–12; and 10,23–32).
If we were to read the Letter in its entirety over the next few weeks (hint, hint) we would find that the willing sacrifice of Jesus (chapters 3–10) is emphasized in order to restore the lost fervor of the people and to strengthen them in their faith.
Another important theme of the letter is that of the pilgrimage of the people of God to the heavenly Jerusalem (11,10; 12,1–3, 18–29; and 13,14). This theme is intimately connected with Jesus’ pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the second half of St. Mark’s Gospel (which we will also be sharing Sunday after Sunday – for even more than the next six weeks). The author calls this work a “message of encouragement” (13,22), which is an apt theme for all of us still making our way through a worldwide pandemic and longing for a renewed sense of hope in these trying days.
