Life is a journey filled with lessons, hardships, heartaches, joys, celebrations and special moments that will ultimately lead us to our destination, our purpose in life. The road will not always be smooth; in fact, throughout our life journey, we will encounter many challenges. Some of these challenges will test our courage, strengths, weaknesses and faith. Along the way, we may stumble upon obstacles that will come between the paths that we are destined to take. We must overcome these obstacles by finding signs of new life.
In this present scenario we are all caught up and confronted with devastating COVID 19 Pandemic.
The whole world is suffering due to it. How we respond to what we are faced with determines what kind of outcome the rest of our journey through life will be like. We have two choices in dealing with the situations. We can focus on the fact that things didn’t go how we had hoped they would and let life pass us by, or two, we can make the best out of the situation and know that these are setbacks and find the lessons that are to be learned.
Time stops for no one, and we allow ourselves to focus on the negative, we might miss out on some really amazing things that life has to offer. We can’t go back to the past, we can only take the lessons that we have learned and the experiences that we have gained from it and move on.
It is because of the painful situations and hardships that at the end makes us stronger person to bring sings of new life within and around.
Synod of 2021- 23 brings sings of new hope and life. The synodal church invites us to explore, participate ways of exercising responsibility in the living of gospel values by which we are called to build an eco-friendly, sustainable and habitable world. “Scrutinize the signs of the time and interpret them in the light of the Gospel” (GS, no. 4). It is universal struggle and tragedy that we are living through COVID 19 Pandemic “momentarily revived the sense that we are a global community, all in the same boat, when one person’s problems are the problems of all. Once more we realized that no one is saved alone; we can only be saved together” (FT, no. 32).
We have been finding sings of new life in these crucial, depressing and devastating situations of life humanity have become support to one another. When the churches were closed, homes have become domestic churches where Holy Eucharistic celebrated in on line, Bible sharing and praying together. There is a sense of belonging, family unity and community oriented service to the less privileged brothers and sisters of ours (women, men, children, foster homes migrants and canceling for the depressed). People of different walks of live came together joined their hands together to fight against this pandemic.
It is the reality that we returned to God in prayer and realizing that our common home mother earth is destroyed, whole of our creation disturbed and no human power could eradicate COVID 19 but only God the author and creator of the universe. Our creator God is inviting us to bring signs of hope and life to the universe. Many of our consecrated men and women have become covid warriors by sacrificed their life and saved the lives of many brothers and sisters. One among them is Sr. Shigi Chacko DW this candle of hope will continue to burn brightly as she has become an inspiration to bring life. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remain a grain of wheat…” (Jn 12: 24).
Sr. Mini Menachery DW
Province India
Bengaluru.
