Reading 1 : Isaiah 1-10, 16-20

Hear the word of the LORD,
princes of Sodom!
Listen to the instruction of our God,
people of Gomorrah!

Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.

Come now, let us set things right,
says the LORD:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
they may become white as wool.
If you are willing, and obey,
you shall eat the good things of the land;
But if you refuse and resist,
the sword shall consume you:
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!

As I sat in Mass this morning and listened to the first reading, I could not help but to think that yet here was another instance when the readings  from the daily Missal were ‘perfectly timed‘ for such a day as these. For just outside the safety of my town, the world is crumbling under the pressure from the ‘novel‘ corona-virus that is wrecking havoc on huge sections of the world,  whole countries at a time. Dear readers, let us not for a moment, forget who we are as Christians and why we were made in the first place.

As the fears grow, it may be hard to remember that we were created for far greater glories.  This is difficult to remember, when everyone around us is running in a panic  and fear. As the hype tends to spread faster than the truth, the uncertainty of it all easily mixes the fact with fiction. Do not be alarmed. All of this will pass. We do not know what the outcome is going to be, or how this will affect us here at home, but we must look to the Lord.We must pray and we must place our trust in Him… even when everyone is telling us our certain demise is just around the bend.

We must remember that our life here, is not all there is. For when we die, it is not the end of the line, but rather merely the beginning. This place… this world, is not our eternal home, we are pilgrims on a journey, we must remember that in this life… we are just passing through. The world is not our reward. When we think about the possibility of our death or the death of someone close to us, it may get a bit scary, (who am I kidding...) it may get downright petrifying…. and there may be moments when we are tempted to run with the mobs and buy our bunkers and fill them full, but we must fight that temptation. Even with all the nightly news and their comparisons to the black plague or the Spanish flu, we mustn’t fall into the trap of doom. And though we don’t yet know how the history books will ultimately compare this outbreak to the past diseases and plagues that ravaged the world’s population. We mustn’t allow ourselves to be led by the panic, we must remain calm and not become the fool. Sure we must prepare our homes and our families… after all, we have a duty to protect those who are entrusted to our care..

However, we can allow ourselves to think back to the early 1900’s, when Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the three children in a small town in Portugal, and gave them a warning. She showed them hell and told them that Russia and the whole world must be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart. She told the children many things and showed them what would befall mankind if he did not turn away from sin and be converted.

There is no denying it. We have been warned. God is mercy, yet He is just. He will not continue to be mocked. We must not allow this corona-virus to cause us to lose our soul. So many people are running out and buying everything. They have become hoarders of medical and sanitizing supplies. So many people are not even hoarding so as to protect their families, but rather, they are buying all the supplies so as to resell them at a much higher profit. Sanitizing gels and wipes will not cleanse a hardened soul… There is no charity in the hearts of greedy men. There is no love. No conversion to the Lord. 

As we apprehensively approach the coming waves of the virus spreading throughout the U.S. and perhaps being faced with our own quarantine, let us not lose ourselves in the chaotic storm, or we shall risk more than just losing our lives. We risk losing our souls. Stay holy my friends, pray for protection and trust in the Lord.