Let the King Enter: Hope in the midst of uncertainty

“Remember you are dust and dust to you shall return”, are the words spoken at the imposition of ashes during the Ash Wednesday liturgy.  Ashes are a clear and obvious sign of our mortality and God’s saving grace in our lives.  We are dust and to dust we shall return while singing the glorious song of resurrection and with hope of eternal life with God.  Thankfully, God’s grace and mercy is present and at work in our lives every day in various ways.

Ash Wednesday also ushers in the Lent.  Lent is a time of reflection, prayer, repentance and preparation-preparation to observe the holy week and to celebrate Easter with thankful hearts, minds and souls that God fulfilled his promise and reconciled humanity to himself through the death and resurrection of his only son, Jesus the Christ.

Little did most of know on 26^th February (Ash Wednesday) that the coronavirus will bring our life, as we know it, to a screeching halt.  Social distancing and closures of public buildings, schools, offices, non-essential businesses and houses of worship will be the new normal for the foreseeable future.  Hospitals and other medical facilities and social services struggling to address the needs and to provide medical assistance to those in need, was not even in our most irresponsible dreams and thoughts. 

Depression, spiritual isolation and questions and doubts about the love of God are common reaction(s) in stressful and dangerous times.  While questions are common, the way to deal with it is not common at all.  Prophets of doom and gloom and God’s vindication are interpreting this time as a fulfillment of God’s vindication to punish sinful human beings and to bring the rest of humanity to God through Jesus the Christ.  Others are suggesting that it is nature’s way to take control of the mother earth and to rejuvenate herself.  Conspiracy theorists are blaming other countries for deliberately releasing the virus for their own nefarious gains and reasons.  All of these irrational theories and pronouncements are intensifying the angst and stress of analready stressed populace and are creating spiritual, racial, and religious divisions.

Fundamental difficulty and objection to God of vindication, earth inflicting pain and suffering on us and conspiracy is that it:

·         Portrays God as a monster who delights in the suffering and killing of wayward persons.  If that is the case then why did Jesus die on the cross and resurrect on the third day.  Moreover, Jesus did say that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them.  Fulfillment must be understood and accepted that because of Jesus we are not burdened by the Law of Moses (way to reconcile with God) and the prophets. 

·         Submits that nature, God’s creation, will turn on us and will reset itself.  Rejuvenation of the earth since COVID 19 is the example of how much healing and restoration earth and nature desperately need from us, the stewards of creation.

·         Blaming the other further separates one from the other and nurtures division, racism, xenophobia and fear in a fractured and broken world.

Lent, as mentioned above, is a time of reflection, prayer and devotion.  Because of this pandemic, we must pray, focus and reflect on our fragility, life styles and relationship with God and our neighbours.  Palm Sunday celebrates Jesus’ entry into the holy city.  Inhabitants of the holy city along with the visitors regardless of their race and religion came together to welcome the Son of God in their hearts and in their midst.  They received Jesus regardless of foreign occupation and hostility of the institution of the day.  They were there because they knew and believed that welcoming Jesus is to allow the light and faithfulness of God in their own lives and because of that they can face any calamity and oppression because the King has returned to his rightful place.

Likewise, I hope and fervently pray that we will be strengthened by the faith and zeal of these children and adults in the Palm Sunday event.  That our reflection, prayer, fasting and discipline during lent and these uncertain days have prepared us to set aside anything and everything which can deny the nature of God, splendour of the created order and oneness of humanity and has brought us to a place where we proclaim loudly Hosanna to the Highest and allow the King to come to his rightful place.