The humbling Covid-19
Tomorrow we will be celebrating Palm Sunday, commemorating the triumphant majestic entry into Jerusalem, days before his persecution and death on the cross.This action of Jesus is very relevant and significant to us today, especially with Covid-19 posing a threat to our lives and that of our loved ones.
Jesus showed great courage to do the right despite knowing well that he will be put to an unfair trial and sentenced to die in a most brutal manner. The greater surprise of this is that he accepted the unfair verdict without any hate or anger towards those who plotted and betrayed him.The very people who shouted “Hossana, Hossana”, days later yelled “Crucify him, Crucify him”. Despite fully aware of all the injustice towards him. Jesus still did not show anger or hate whatsoever.
It is this principle of Jesus, we must adopt in our own lives today. We too are continuously being treated unjustly, denied our legitimate rights and at times punished even for doing right. We are extremely angry and tempted to react with anger. But our Lord has showed us that is wrong.
In this respects we commend the 24 seminarians and a priest who were arrested, hand-cuffed and charged for playing football in the premises of the College General ,Penang. They were accused for breaching the Movement Control Order (MCO) during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It must have been a great humiliation for these seminarians for being treated like that for not coming any crime. However they humbly accepted their arrest and even pleaded guilty and was ordered to do community service as the punishment, which may be God’s plan in preparation for their pastoral life in the future.
During this MCO, the churches organize online masses, Holy week services and even virtual blessing of palms at home. These may be good but Palm Sunday is much more than praying and blessing of palms to make us feel better. There are more important things to do in keeping with what Jesus himself demonstrated on Palm Sunday – the courage to do the right and accept the consequences without anger or hate.
In this MCO period our loved ones may be involved actively in the frontline battle against the Covid-19, we may be cooped up in our homes bored, stressed, fearful and depressed over their safety and our own. This is the time we need the courage to do the right by reaching out to those around us who are worst off the us. Many don’t have food, no proper shelter and no job and money. There are many who are depressed over the uncertain future with the looming pandemic. Now is the time to reach out to them in whatever way we can. It may not be monetary aid they need but just our moral support of reassurance. A phone call or WhatsApp message is all they may need to lift their morale.
Have a blessed and meaningful Pam Sunday
No comments:
Post a Comment