A Chaplain’s Thoughts: Alone? Or are we?
By Rev. James F. Quigley, O.P. ’60, Associate Chaplain,
National Alumni Association
The coronavirus pandemic has caused sickness, death, mourning, economic hardship, educational reversals, and much other suffering. One less obvious circumstance that many have experienced in one way or another is isolation. It means keeping distance since another person may be a threat to one’s health.
Grandparents avoid grandchildren. Elderly live alone at home or in assisted-living centers. Friends avoid visits. Celebrations such as weddings, baptisms, and funerals are restricted in the number of attendees and to certain places. Religious services such as Mass are canceled or reduced to only a few faithful, wearing masks, sitting six feet apart. It has been a lonely time for some, a strange and puzzling and unnerving time for most.
I celebrate Mass for a community limited in number. I sanitize my hands to give Holy Communion and wear a mask. Greeting people and exchanging peace are eliminated.
I remember, though, that Jesus Christ died in isolation, hanging on a cross, mocked, shamed, and all alone. He even felt separated from his Father in heaven, crying out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., a former Master of the Dominican Order of Preachers, comments: “In that moment, He embraced more than just our deaths. He made His very own the loneliness that we all endure sometimes and that tens of millions live today.”
In that awful moment, Jesus gave us the sacrament of hope, Eucharist, to stay with us. “This is my body and blood, given for you.” That sacrament defies isolation, even if we only watch Mass, even if can’t physically receive Holy Communion. He promised not to leave us orphans. As Father Radcliffe says: “… Christians believe that all our loneliness is embraced in a communion that pierces through any barricade.”
No matter what the present pandemic does I know and I believe that I am not alone. I live possessed by the risen Lord Jesus Christ. So are you.
