April Thought

Lockdown

Yes, there is fear
Yes, there is isolation
Yes, there is panic buying
Yes, there is sickness
Yes, there is even death
But…

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear

They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound

Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are
To how little control we really have
To what really matters
To Love

So we pray and we remember that
Yes, there is fear
But there does not have to be hate
Yes, there is isolation
But, there does not have to be loneliness
Yes, there is panic buying
But, there does not have to be meanness
Yes, there is sickness
But, there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes, there is even death
But, there can always be a rebirth of love

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now
Today, breathe
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing, Spring is coming
And we are always encompassed by Love

Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing

By Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM
March 13th, 2020