Last week, we began examining the lessons from the COVID pandemic for the fifth anniversary of the reopening of churches at Pentecost. The lesson from human nature is that we are called as Catholics to balance our desire for self-preservation with the prudent charity that is able to love others as Christ has commanded us. St. Charles Borromeo in the 1576 plague of Milan exemplified this virtuous attitude through his pastoral care and stringent hygienic precautions. Let’s look today at what COVID might have taught us about human society.
On Friday, March 20th, 2020, the Roman Pontiff Pope Francis stood at the entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica in front of an empty piazza on a rainy night. His reflection began to explore how the coronavirus pandemic pushed over the house of cards upon which we had built our society. Modernity prizes its efficiency, its technological prowess, and its ability to solve any problem it faces. Instant gratification teaches us to trust technology more than God’s providential care. Our globalized world, linked in myriad layers of complexity and efficiency, crumbled like a house of cards because of a virus 100 nanometers big. As supply chains and economies ground to a halt and society shut down, our sense of wellbeing cratered. Many of us had been running at such a frenetic pace (soccer practices, vacations, long hours at the office, and constant tech scrolling) that the pandemic was like the inertia of a freight train as it tries to stop on a dime. We had nowhere to go and no one to see.
A few of us regrounded ourselves in prayer, silence, and deep communion with our families. We ate dinner together and played board games, prayed the rosary and kept Sunday holy. But most felt trapped in our homes with nothing to do except avoid our families and stare at our screens. The Pope said that day, “We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to confront adversity.” A metaphorical diet of junk food and no exercise had left our spiritual immune system unprepared for the adversity of the pandemic, and few of us faced those days with the peace and grace God was offering us. In addition, though the pandemic left no life untouched, its impact was disparately felt. Those who were already vulnerable materially, physically, socially, and spiritually were often hit harder than those who were wealthy, healthy, socially connected and spiritually thriving.
How did St. Charles Borromeo address the societal crisis of his time’s plague? Besides ministering with anointings, communions, and prayers for the sick, he ordered the construction of altars on busy street corners so the faithful could attend Mass from their windows. He urged the people to carry out corporal works of mercy for their neighbors and distributed a small booklet with prayers that could be recited as a family each time the city’s church bells rang. When the plague abated momentarily, he gathered the people with social distancing to process through the city. Rather than spreading the pestilence, these processions dispelled fear and connected the citizens to one another and God. These measures kept the sanity of society intact when everything was collapsing. What spiritual practices can we start now in our homes so that we are robust when adversity next hits?
