Solitude, Not Isolation (2020-03-15, Lent-03)

2020-03-15  – 3^rd Sunday LENT

__ Exodus 17:3-7  __ Psalm 95 __  Romans 5:1-2, 5-8 _ + John 4:5-42 _

[_01_]    Following the direction of our Archbishop, Joseph Cardinal Tobin, together with so many other of our sisters and brothers in faith, we are not gathering for liturgy, for Sunday Mass on March 14-15.

          I hope and pray our Lenten fasting, prayer, almsgiving while now taking place in some physical solitude for many of us will, in fact, also unite us and bring us out of the darkness we may feel.

          The parish church of Our Lady of Lourdes (West Orange, NJ) is open for prayer at certain times, based on our Archbishop's instruction. Click this link below for more information.
< Click HERE, LOURDESWESTORANGE info >


Here are the readings for Sunday March 15.
< Click HERE, Sunday 2020-03-15 readings >

[_02_]    On September 11, 2001, many of those who worked in New York City – in and around the World Trade Centers – have personal stories to tell about how we were rescued or how we came to assist in the rescue of others who were stranded and without transportation downtown in New York or in midtown or anywhere in and around New York that day.

          Starting on September 11, 2001 and for every September 11^th thereafter, people will also remember heroic firefighters going to the World Trade Center and going up into the towers, knowing perhaps that they would have to give up their lives.

          9/11 remains a moment of tragedy but also a time of great city-wide, regional and national solidarity in the wake of a tragedy.

          So many people wanted to help, wanted to be on board …and so they did. There was a mission.

          I understand many non-New-Yorkers rooted for the Yankees in the baseball MLB World Series 2 months after 9/11, in autumn 2001. And, usually, people from outside N.Y. do not cheer for the Yankees. While the Yankees did not win the baseball World Series in 2001, N.Y.C. “won” + “gained” something much more important than a sports/baseball trophy after 9/11.

[_03_]    After 9/11, there was a charge and a mission to get people together and to stick together.

          We have the same charge and mission now … yet, I fear and perceive that the coronavirus forces us – at least in some practict ways – to maintain health “social distance”.

          We need each other at this time. We need God and faith in God at this time, so that we will not be at a spiritual distance. So, if you have a neighbor or friend who may be alone or scared, visit…and I encourage you also… invite this person – if not immediately now – at some time in the future to Our Lady of Lourdes of West Orange.

          You have a charge, you have a mission. It is a mission of love.

          So, if someone is alone, remind that they can come to Our Lady of Lourdes church…for solitude (yes) …but not for isolation. Isolation is something punishing. Solitude is something peaceful.

          I hope and pray Lourdes church can be a place of peace and solitude rather than isolation.

[_04_]     Josef Pieper – a scholar writing about Thomas Aquinas shared this: “true love makes us realize that the [person we love] cannot simply drop out of reality, and even – this to be sure will be evident only to the believer – the [person we love] will be physically resurrected and live forever – through death and beyond it.” (Josef Pieper, Faith  Hope  Love (Section 2  of “On Love”), San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1997, p. 169)

          I invite you to recall as our Orthodox Christian sisters and brothers shared recently:

“The Church is the mystical body of Christ. Nothing can affect or change this sacred mystery.   Furthermore, nothing that is done in all reverence, piety, and fear of God in response to this virus

should be construed as anything other than a prudent pastoral and temporary response to a situation that has the possibility of severe consequences. As the body of Christ, we should meet the challenges posed by this virus with the assurance of faith, in oneness of mind, and in imitation of the Great Physician and Healer of souls and bodies, our Lord Jesus Christ. All members of the Church should seek to console the anxious, assist those afflicted, and encourage those working in  medical professions. All faithful should pay special attention to those who might be at risk of more serious complications from this virus: the young, the elderly, and those who already have respiratory or cardiac illnesses. Indeed, no one should be stigmatized or ostracized because they have contracted the virus.”    (Statement of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America on the Corona Virus March 13, 2020)

          We read in the Song of Songs:   “Love is stronger than death.”  (Song of Songs 8:6)

          These may concepts that take us a long time to learn, and we need reminders of, for we are all beginners and starting over with Jesus each day. We also should remember that while our routines may change due to the coronavirus, we have not dropped out of reality !

[_05_]     To our children and young people, I hope and pray you will recognize that God watches over you.

          While some children may rejoice temporarily at the idea of not having to go to school, it also can be a great disruption to be taken away from our friends, from our support group, from our equals …

          Also, learning at home on our own may require you – as a student – to be very disciplined and careful. I ask that you to be patient with your parents and teachers at this time as everyone may be adjusting to a new routine.

We also should remember that while our routines may change due to the coronavirus, we have not dropped out of reality !

[_06_]     In the Gospel this Sunday, we read about the Samaritan woman at the well.

          This woman has a mission …also to bring people to Jesus. She who appears to something of a loner, aloof and separate becomes the person who brings others to our Savior, to bring them to Him as a NEW REALITY and NEW ROUTINE.

          I hope and pray that you and I can do the same for others, to bring others to the new living water of God’s word and love.

          It is our mission to bring and share this Good News.  Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for Us !  Notre Dame de Lourdes, Priez Pour Nous 

[  _fin_]