"In a year that has suspended us
between before and after,
between past and future -
survey all your unexpected
blessings, your tiny miracles."
Amy Anne Cadwell
With all the news this week of new local lockdowns etc and the growing numbers of people diagnosed with Covid-19, the addresses of PM and First Minister, our confidence is once again shaken. Of course, we all knew it had not gone away and that it would rise again in our midst. We are again unsettled, disturbed and worried. People are concerned about how they will cope with it, being the end of year time, Autumn, dark and colder weather approaching.
But this year of 2020 has given us so much too - things we might have long forgotten about, time to think, space to be ourselves, opportunities to look and watch, time to read, space to explore on our doorsteps, opportunities to tell family what we think, want and how much we love them. No-one wanted a global pandemic with all its horrors, but having the time to re-evaluate and to celebrate what we are and what God has done is indeed the opportunity to witness some tiny - or huge - miracles. We here have so much to return thanks for, though it can still seem hard and uncomfortable sometimes.
We need to acknowledge that we will have changed because of this experience and so will those we have around us. The Church too will have been changed because of events and circumstances and there are, as we all accept, new normals. How will we celebrate Harvest, Christmas? How shall we mark All Souls, Remembrance, what will happen at Advent, lightening up time or New Year? Things will be fresh and different, not necessarily bad or disappointing, but we are fortunate in many ways as we are still living, sharing, growing. Our propensity to learn and absorb is still present, we can change and learn: there will be a tomorrow, maybe different and maybe better, when we are used to it. Our celebrations are still there, still to happen and maybe to change us in new ways.
God of all, we cry out to you for help. In your mercy, hear our prayer.
Protect us, Lord, and be with us especially those of us most vulnerable during this coronavirus crisis.
Move us to reach out in love to our neighbours near and far. So that the humble may be exalted, the hungry filled with good things.
Grant us the courage not to rush back to our old ways, but to rebuild our world together, creating foundations of justice, with equality and peace for all.
Amen.
Prayer: Catherine Gorman/CAFOD