March 4, 2021
Lord, who through-out these forty days for us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with thee to mourn our sins, and close by thee to stay.
– Claudia Frances Hernaman (1838 – 1898)
Why, O God, why, do we need to do this Lenten journey, a deep-dive inward, into the psyche of sin, separation from God (and each other) this year, of all years? It would seem that we have spent quite enough time in isolation, apart from our friends and family, our loved ones. How long it has been since we freely and fearlessly embraced, inhaling and exhaling uninhibited Holy Spirit presence, the breath of life.
Did we take Holy Spirit for granted? Definitely. Will we again? Possibly. Maybe. Probably?
Why is that, fellow Lenten sojourners? Why must we go into the desert, for 40 days and 40 nights, to realize again, that we need each other, that we need God? We are not islands unto ourselves. We are inextricably bound to each other. Each of our individual fates is wrapped up in the destinies of everyone else, of the rest of Creation. What happens to you directly affects me, and everyone else.
What is it that is so intoxicating about sin, the belief that the world revolves around me, and not the other way around, that necessitates yet another journey into wilderness?
It is surprising, shocking, and saddening to me that a public health issue, the wearing of a mask, has become a political, and therefore a divisive issue. Whether one chooses to wear a mask, insomuch as one makes a choice to protect one’s own health, is certainly a “right,” one that involves a set of decisions around comfort, and risk, and risk tolerance. However, the concerning “sinfulness” emerges when one’s comfort, and risk, and risk tolerance intersect with and override the concern and protect and care of other human beings.
On Texas Independence Day, our state leadership chose to remove all COVID-19 restrictions, including the mask mandate, restoring business operation to 100% capacity. I fully understand that businesses are suffering and dying alongside the 516,000+ lives that have been lost. I can understand opening up businesses to stoke economic engines that provide sustenance for life. But forgoing masks, when only 7.1% of the Texas population has been fully vaccinated to date?
But this points to the bigger issue, the one that necessitates the return to wilderness, again and again. Every single time we proclaim, “It is MY Right,” we are proclaiming our centeredness as being the middle of a universe that revolves around us, rather than a part of God’s greater Creation. That is the sinfulness that inhabits the social ills we face, be it racial injustice, gun violence, ecological climate change/disaster, etc. The notion that “I AM GOD” is why we have to keep going to the wilderness each and every year.
WE ARE NOT GOD. This is something for which we should be thankful each and every day! Acting like others matter as much or more than we do will save us. Thinking of, and caring for, and loving others, in this case, enough to wear a mask, will save us. Calvary and the cross, daunting as it seems, suffering-filled as it no-doubt is, will save us for eternity. God’s love will save us for eternity. The salvific work happens when it happens for ALL OF US!
Yours on the Lenten journey,
Fr. Christopher+
