Grace at Heart @ CoVid-19

1) Are you serving directly in this fight to save the humanity? 

You are, of course, engaged fully.

Just keep in your heart, “God, be in me, and be with us”

2) Are you locked down at home?

There is a long time to pass

Alone, away, constrained, concerned…

Pass over gracefully.

See well

The News, the updates, instructions, orders ...

The sick, the abandoned, the dying, the people in healthcare, the fleeing migrants,

Read their pain, fear, hunger, health, fatigue,

Our own people - spouse, parents, children, friends...

There are lots of things to read attentively in them,

Which we never gave attention;

their love, likes, desires, complaints, silence…

See well the world, society, the poor, caretakers, the police, the government...

Read attentively, the many cares that we took for granted.

See well the nature, the plants, the animals, the air, the water,

Read attentively the mysteries we desacralized

Feel them

Feel what is seen and read,

Imagine the path they walk, hold their pain, rejection, neglect, struggle, fatigue, fear …

Express

Express them in gestures, sighs, or even in words,

Your heart might whisper just a word, ‘O God.’

It is your sincere cry that involves your prayer for them, repentance for what is neglected, gratitude for what is seen as received.

Hear

Hear the voice of God, speaking to you and the whole of what you have seen, read felt and voiced.

Feel the consolation, comfort, and the presence of God for you and for the world,

in hospitals, in streets, with the sick and the dying, with the caretakers and the scientists, with the police and the governments.

Firmly believe the presence of God, not just for your protection and care, but all the more the presence with the sick and the dying.

You could see the presence of God as a guest and a host within the locked down house.
Since it is simple, it might be hard to practice.

Make an attempt trusting in grace

It might also fill you with compassion and courage.

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Ref. Traditional pattern of Lectio Divina – Read, Meditate, Speak, Contemplate –  

Extreme Pietism vs Prudence @ Covid-19

All forms of 'Bannerism' must be avoided in calling for prayers, adorations, and other spiritual activities.

Prayer is not a doing, it is an attitude, a relationship, a confidence, and a sense of relying on to God.

Earnestly,we pray that the Lord may grant us peace; to guard our faith, and place our confidence in the efforts of social and medical agents.

Many inventions came out of intuitions; and it is not given as a revelation from outside but given for the working mind. So peace is something important for the intuition to be recognised. It is an effort of humanity for the sake of all the living.

Any form of extreme pietism can only bring counter effects, and it is not the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If it is advised to avoid crowding in any form, gathering for 'prayer' is not a prayer at all. Praying is important, but not the coming together in great number. We might seek the intercession of the saints, or use traditional prayers in the time of perils. But these are not to be considered as 'the formula' or a 'magical spell' that totally solve problems.