Celia Deane-Drummond, Director of the Laudato Si’ Research Institute, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, has written this about Covid-19 in the light of Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si”.
Much of the public ethical discussion about Covid-19 is about issues of justice.
Who gets access to what has increasingly become a lottery
in availability of healthcare, testing
and personal protective equipment.
The most vulnerable suffer directly from this disease,
but the indirect national and global economic and social impacts cut deep.
Short of finding a cure or vaccine,
social distancing or isolation is the only possible way forward.
We are asked to remain distant.
It’s a self-emptying sacrifice of love,
reminiscent of Good Friday,
that brings pain of absence –
the pain of not being able to be present with those we love
or even gather in communion for burial of the dead.
Dying alone or with masked carers
is not the kind of death any would wish for.
It feels counterintuitive.
We need to try and understand this virus as a newcomer in an existing panoply of creatures who are associated with us – some kill, yes, but many do not. We can mourn in deep solidarity with those who mourn,
but anxiety will not help those left behind.
The next time a cloud of anxiety rises up
within us, let us reflect that
the flowers, birds, trees and
other living creatures around us
even in an urban environment
are not in lockdown.
Stop to listen to the birdsong.
Their praises cannot be stamped out,
in spite of our mortality and disease.
The Christian hopeful message of Easter cannot be suppressed.
God’s grace is continuously at work
in unselfish acts of
self-emptying love and sacrifice
even in the midst of the pandemic.
NOVENA PRAYERS
IN THIS TIME OF PANDEMIC
✠ In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
WE THANK GOD FOR THE GIFT OF THIS DAY
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
WE ASK MARY TO PRAY WITH US;
ask her to pray with you for particular individuals, especially for those who do not know her Son.
Hail, Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee,
blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is
the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now,
and at the hour of our death.
A PRAYER FOR PEACE IN OUR WORLD
…and may there be peace within me….
Universal Prayer for Peace:
Satish Kumar
Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth. Lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust. Lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace. Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe, Peace, Peace, Peace…..
READING: Jesus came up and spoke to them.
He said, ‘all authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me.
Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations’. (Matt. 28:18-19a)
Lord Jesus, as you ascended to the Father,
you commissioned us to ‘make disciples of all nations’.
Help me to share my faith in all that I say and do,
so that my life proclaims my faith.
A PRAYER THAT I MAY REMAIN POSITIVE:
Lord Jesus, you told your friends
not to worry about the future.
You showed them how to have the attitude
of simple trust that young children have,
so that they could place themselves
into the caring hands of your Father.
And so I ask for the power of your Spirit
that I may remain positive throughout all
that is ordinary in my daily life.
May any difficulties and frustration and pain
of this day be transformed in your presence,
for my benefit and for that of other people.
Nicholas Henderson
PRAYING WITH OTHERS ACROSS THE WORLD
Lord, you said that when two or three
would gather together in your name,
then you would be present with them.
I am praying by myself (or ‘on the Internet’)
but I am uniting myself
with many individuals throughout the world
who, though separate, are gathered together
in another sense to pray to you,
and I trust that you are with me now.
Nicholas Henderson
A word of prayer from the
World Council of Churches General Secretary:
God of life, you have promised to be with us every day, also in difficult days, in times like these. Give us clarity in our minds, strength in our work and discernment, rest as we sleep, peace in our minds. Be with those who need help more than we do ourselves; help us to see what we can offer from your love.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory;
for ever and ever. Amen.
A PARAPHRASE OF THE LORD’S PRAYER
God, who cares for us, The wonder of whose presence fills us with awe. Let kindness, justice and love shine in our world. Let your secrets be known here as they are in heaven. Give us the food and the hope we need for today. Forgive us our wrongdoing as we forgive the wrongs done to us. Protect us from pride and from despair and from the fear and hate which can swallow us up. In you is truth, meaning, glory and power, while worlds come and go…
Monica Furlong
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
Commentaires