Open Window

Dear sisters & brothers in Christ,

I pray that you, and your loved ones, are blessed and staying safe. Who’d have thought back at the beginning of Lent when we were immersed in the Fish Fry, preparing for The Jesus Mission and Holy Week (not to mention dreaming of Spring and getting outdoors) that we would be sequestered in our homes for over seven weeks, watching Easter mass on our computers and seeing the Spring bloom through a window.

Personally, I try to be an optimist. I’ll admit I don’t always succeed, but I try. As we look around at our current situation there are plenty of negatives to dwell on; from personal financial worries to the national econo- my; from our children’s education to having them at home 24-7. But dwelling on the negative is unhealthy, and we have enough health issues to worry about. Luckily, like most storm clouds, there are some silver linings. As I mentioned in my Easter homily, there are countless examples of people going out of their way to help their neigh- bors, and even complete strangers. There are the hundreds of thousands of people who are risking their own health, and possibly their lives, to care for the sick and take care of our daily needs. Then there are the priceless opportunities we have to slow down and spend quality time with our families, to focus on getting to know each other on a deeper level.

We also have a chance to improve ourselves. Time to read the bible. Time to strengthen our prayer-life. Time to learn to play an instrument or read those books or watch the movies we never have time for. Just dig out that list of chores you’ve always meant to do. Just think, if this had happened thirty years ago it would have been very, very different. We are fortunate that even though we are stuck in our homes, we have the internet to take us anywhere in the world. You may be sequestered alone, but with your phone you can reach out to all the people in your life, and truly realize that this is a small world after-all.

Instead of constantly worrying about the pandemic or complaining about being locked up at home, I would like to encourage you to use this time wisely. Instead of thinking about the things you cannot do, make a list of all the things you can do, things you’ve always wished you had the time to do, and start checking them off. For those of you who are always doing, consider slowing down. Just take some time for yourself. Give yourself the permis- sion to waste some time, take a nap, read something simply for the enjoyment of it or watch something totally mindless. We may have had a lot of things taken away by this pandemic, but one thing we have been given... the one thing we are always wishing we had more of... is time! So while you may be missing a lot of things that you are used to, take another look at the opportunities you have been given. There’s an old saying, “God never closes a door without opening a window.” So if your door has been closed, take a good look around for that open win- dow.

Stay safe & healthy! In the Redeemer,

Fr. Rick