Julian
of Norwich is a 14th-century mystic and anchoress who lived during the
time of the Black Death which brought great confusion to society, at a
time when the church was struggling with power squabbles.
In
Julian's autobiography, there is a phrase that says: "everything will
be all right" repeated three times. This is her core message, which
says, "God is love, and God's love will eventually win."
These
words of Julian, who survived the pain of death and did not lose hope
and trust in God, reverberate in the hearts of believers who have to
deal with this long period of quarantine and exhaustion from the
Coronavirus Infection.
She
wants to meditate on these words of infinite affirmation in a time when
we on the feast of Easter were not able to meet to celebrate. What are
we to take from this unprecedented situation? She wants us to have us
remember: "God is love, and God's love will eventually win."
Pope
Francis began Holy Week by sending video letters to families worldwide.
The Pope's warm advice reminds us to remember many who have worked hard
in these difficult times, especially those who are alone, and those
isolated with Corona 19, he urges us to find ways with the 'Creativity
of Love' to send messages in the spirit of love to those around us.
The
hermits of Julian's day were also isolated in small rooms, but
spiritual liberty connected them to others, as healers and counselors.
Recently,
unable to meet directly with believers in each parish, priests and
religious encouraged believers by phone calls and messages. Besides,
various videos of consolation and encouragement introduced by the social
media were seen as a new form of communication that showed 'Creativity
of Love' beyond the difficulties.
Corona
19 brought many unusual phenomena, both good and bad to our attention.
As the world pauses for a while, we see how the outcome of some development for human convenience, not for our good, is being restored to a healthier state.
As industrial activities decrease, the atmospheric environment improves, the sky opens transparently, and in the homes, families spend a
lot of time together and relationships are recovering.
The virus doesn't discriminate
it infects anyone, but the structure of inequality that has been
established in human society has a sad phenomenon that results in a more letal mortality rate for the socially disadvantaged.
However,
because of this, the 'public health system' is better maintained,
'basic income' so that everyone can evenly maintain human dignity is
systematically introduced, and a 'social safety net' is established so
that socially disadvantaged people are helped. Also, structural and
institutional alternatives have been proposed to overcome the 'climate
crisis', a major cause of the corona problem.
Human
pride has done much harm to creation and 'Corona 19' has shown us why.
God will turn crisis into opportunity through our change of heart.
'Post-Corona' should be a time to make a transition to a sustainable society that lives in harmony with all creation.
"We are in God and God whom we do not see is in us."
