Across the globe, we have witnessed so much disruption to the normal flow of life that the impetus behind all motions and all human activity has been subjected to a stand still.
Humanity is at a point where almost every person is burdened, tempted by anxiety and fear, by the catastrophe that is ravaging our common humanity. Amid living in a time of deep division, where our world is plagued with so much hatred, violence, war, ecological disaster, poverty and destitution, there is unimaginable suffering. The coronavirus pandemic is a significant addition to the already existing global concerns. Distressed by all these uncertainties and calamities of life, our dear Lord tells us in John’s gospel, “Do not be afraid.” (Jn 14:27)
As followers of Christ, the flow of grace is always around us, constantly inviting us to wade deep and wide. We are compelled to ask how God is calling us to be a prayer-shaped people, entering into the reality of God’s grace, so that we might impact that grace to our tumultuous world.
The words of Pope Francis echo in the SSND constitution, You Are Sent (YAS, C 17): “Our goal is not to amass information or satisfy curiosity, rather to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and thus to discover what each of us can do about it.” (Laudato Si’, 19).
May we find creative ways to be in solidarity with the suffering world.
~Sister Vera Owoh, SSND