Be Not Afraid

Worried?

Anxiety is a toxic brew of negative emotions—anger, angst, apprehension, tension, worry, discouragement, fear, nervousness, panic, and fretfulness. Forty million Americans battle it regularly, and everyone faces periodic bouts of this devilish disease—me included. So you can imagine that these days of dealing with the coronavirus and all of the restrictions and changes in our daily lives have certainly added to that number and its intensity!

The parish staff and I have spent the last week calling all of our registered parishioners - more than 3000 families in all.  It's a project that took many days to complete. While we have heard that many people are fine and hunkered down together as a family, we have also heard the stories of worry and anxiety.

In the midst of a pandemic, sometimes we can allow our mind to worry about everything - even and especially things beyond our control. The fact of the matter is that today we can only manage the things that we are immediately responsible for: 

1. Our own health and safety;

2. Caring for your children;

3. Elderly parents;

4. Temporal matters, not the least of which is food, supplies and our financial stability.

Just thinking about these few points can make people very anxious!

None of us can change the rising number of people infected, but we can follow the good advice of washing our hands, cleaning and sanitizing surfaces, self-isolating and exercising social distancing to ensure that we are not adding to that number.

None of us can fix the stock market, but we can be aware of someone in our community who has a greater need than we do. Consider helping a small local grocery store or restaurant with an order or making a donation to a food pantry.

None of us can make any of this process go any faster, but we can use each minute to breathe, focus, rest, exercise and pray until the global situation changes - and we can encourage our family and friends to do the same.

Our God speaks to us in the Sacred Scriptures.  Perhaps in times like this, with much less movement and much more quiet, we can better hear God's word.  The Bible has many passages for overcoming anxiety. I offer here just one, from the book of Proverbs 12:25: 

"Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up."

The writer of Proverbs knew from personal experience that anxiety feels like a weight. When we’re anxious, it’s like trying to run in a waterlogged wool coat. We trudge from step to step. There is no countermeasure better than a kind word—either from a friend or counselor, or from God's Word. 

Instead of reciting our problems to people over and over and posting them on social media adding to our anxiety, give a trusted friend the short version and then offer a kind word or share a happy memory or an insight that has come out of all this.  

These days will not pass by very quickly - so perhaps it's better not to try and obsess on the "end date."  Instead, despite the anxiety and worry, let's use each minute to better know ourselves and those we are surrounded by - physically and virtually.  Let's use these days to assess our needs and pray for one another - especially those who are sick, those caring for them, and those whose work and service we rely on these days.

Trade your list of worries for a list of hopeful insights.  And if you can, please share them here with me, so that we can be an inspiration to one another and our community of faith.

Blessings!

RSM

(With Thanks to: https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/6-great-anti-anxiety-passages-of-scripture-for-tough-times.html)

God's Grace in Death

Dear Friends:

As we arrive at the Fifth Week of Lent, I’m certain that it has been one like no other for so many of us! Some in our community, given their life experience, can reflect on living through times of war. Truly what we experience today might be described as fighting a war with an invisible enemy.

Despite that, we find great support in the Sacred Scriptures, which I believe, speak even more loudly in these days of sickness, anxiety and stress. While there are many examples we can reflect on and find comfort in, I like this pointed passage from the book of Joshua 1:9:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

I’m guessing that for some, these may seem like words that have no meaning or little impact, given where we find our world these days. But it’s precisely in these days that the Lord equips us with the grace needed to see through the darkness and to be the light for one another. Where distress abounds, I believe God’s grace abounds all the more.

The final theme in our Lenten series for our reflection is Meeting Grace in Death. While death can be a very heavy burden for many, our faith teaches us that not even death can separate us from the love and life eternal with Christ. Hope is one of the most important gifts that God’s grace can give us.

As our world struggles to find a cure, prevention, healing and the peace that those all bring, some have already died and others who are more vulnerable may pass too. So as a community of faith, let’s ask for God’s Grace in abundance so that we can be filled with hope and help others in finding ways through grief.

Do not be frightened, our God is with us ... let’s work harder to be with one another in new and creative ways!

Blessings! -Fr Bob

In the Dark, We Find Time is on Our Side

Vienna Pharaon, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in New York City, writes:

"You can't keep doing the same things if you want a different outcome.  Your predictability keeps you in your suffering.  Get ready to disrupt your patterns and programming.  A new way of living is waiting for you." 

Clearly, a new way of living is waiting for all of us and, in these days, there is no such thing as predictability.  There is so much uncertainty and everything seems to be changing.     

If we have learned anything thus far from the coronavirus pandemic, it is that we can no longer keep doing the same things in the same ways because we definitely need a different outcome.  We need first to slow down and ultimately stop the spread.  We need to care for those who are infected and affected.  We need to help people sustain their lives and care for their families.

Those are pretty lofty goals, and the price to be paid seems to be so little - regularly wash and sanitize our hands, carefully clean and disinfect surfaces, purposefully limit unnecessary public exposure and avoid being with groups of people.  While none of these is a very big challenge, and each of us can be compliant, they require a new attitude and plan of action. Failure to do these things will keep us in our suffering and hurt others.

How should we better plan for the new way of living that is waiting for us?  

If your life is like mine, there's never enough time to do the things we really want to do - like enjoying hobbies, spending time with those we love, working on an at home project, and deepening our relationship with God.  And while many of us may be asking the question, "When will all this be over?" perhaps we can ask a different question, "How can I best use this 'pause' to life to prepare for a better future?"

Many people have created and shared a "daily schedule" for their days that allot specific times not only for work that needs to be done, but for the things they've always wanted to do.  Some have noted they'd like to:

- Pray a bit more

- Read that book sitting on the table

- Clean or re-arrange the storage closet

- Play that board game with their kids

- Send that note to parents

- Email an old friend

None of us knows how long this will last, but everyone knows that it will ultimately end.  Use the time well, carefully, creatively - because the different outcome we seek requires seizing the opportunities today.  And one final note - when fear and anxiety seems to be in control, reach out, do not carry it alone.  There are so many ready and willing to listen, guide and be with you on this journey!

Blessings!

RSM