Lent is a pilgrimage,
a cloud of COVID-19, looming large,
contagious, human to human, nation to nation,
one by one, in self-quarantine,
intense anxiety, suspension, uncertainty,
fever, tiredness, slight cough, shortness of breadth,
tightness of chest,
who is next? spiraling anxiety!!
Verdict for many: “You are tested positive.”
Intense anxiety beneath the calm.
For others, “Return to normal life!!”
Millstone akin to albatross around the neck,
lifted, joy of heart, new lease on life.
Praying prostrated, in trepidation,
“spare this world, spare your people, O Lord!!
Lockdown. Where do the homeless, poor, vulnerable, women, children,
find cash, food, medicine?
Growing realization,
We are interconnected, communities to communities,
across counties, provinces, nations,
in health, in suffering, in mourning,
sharing the same DNA with everyone,
with Christ’s selfless generosity, in life, death, resurrection,
with the Cosmos-Earth.
Perplexed, the mountain, the rock, the tree, the soil,
Terra Mater, remains above any infection,
faithfully sustaining us daily,
air, fowls, fruits, meats, spices, vegetables,
grateful to the ever gratuitousness of God.
In gratitude, be reconciled,
promote the lungs in the Amazonia, Congo, Borneo,
for the global community.
Glory, praise, to our God, Jesus our Master, Creative Spirit of healing,
now and forever. Amen!!!
Fr Jojo M Fung SJ from Malaysia-Singapore Region is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford. He served as Coordinator of the Jesuit Companions in Indigenous Ministry of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific for 20 years, from 1999 to 2019.