Covid in China, God’s love and brothers and sisters
The apostolic administrator of Harbin speaks to the faithful. Physical health is serving others for God’s love. The epidemic makes us recognise what truth, goodness and beauty really are. After this trial, a religious wave will inevitably follow, and those who truly fear God will be the most blessed.
Harbin (AsiaNews) – As we all know, China is currently going through the worst wave since the start of the pandemic. This comes after Chinese authorities lifted restrictions associated with its Zero-Covid policy. The first official government data released yesterday report 59,938 Covid-related deaths between 8 December and 12 January, but doubts remain as to the reliability of these figures. The Chinese Catholic community is also grappling with the pandemic; it is doing this by mourning its victims, but also by reflecting in the light of faith. This is what Mgr Giuseppe Zhao Hongchun, apostolic administrator of Harbin (Heilongjiang), northern China, proposes to the faithful in a pastoral letter. In it he offers an important reflection of which we propose extensive excerpts.
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
May God impart to you the unbreakable peace of the world through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus! [. . .]
Three years of epidemic prevention left too many difficult memories. As soon as it opens, it is caught off guard by infection, overnight high fever, muscle pain, and loss of taste and smell. Let us and our families experience pain and fear, even the threat of death. In the face of an epidemic that has gripped the world like a net, we should remember the most important thing that we are the children of God. Only this truth can help us face all the sufferings and sorrows, or even more tragic facts. Only this subordination to God can enable us to determine the core of life and grasp its direction. Therefore, we must make peace with the Lord in time and return to a close relationship with Him in the test of the epidemic.
During the epidemic, we witnessed the loss of countless lives and experienced the value and vulnerability of life more profoundly. It is so precious that all the splendour of the world is eclipsed in front of it, while its fragility shows us how stupid it is to pay attention only to the beauty, health, and wealth of the world, but not to the eternal things. Therefore, we need to get rid of a self-centred and selfish life. Otherwise, we can only bear the agony of waiting for life to pass away passively and exhaust our short life in the hopeless struggle. Because if our life leaves the core and direction it should have, it will end up running towards the real "death" inevitably.
I. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10)
First of all, the indicators of wisdom do not lie in knowledge, ability, and education. Although they are not mutually exclusive with wisdom themselves, it is quite easy to rely on talent to be proud, to be preconceived everywhere, and finally lose wisdom due to people's selfishness and arrogance. The "wisdom" mentioned in the Bible belongs to God and is related to the value of worshiping God and seeking life. It is to live in the world according to God's will with the truth revealed by God, which is a truly meaningful life. Wisdom is not something we can get by ourselves. It is a gift from God, so we can only receive it from God constantly in modesty. And by doing so, we know what pleases God and what does not, then we have fear. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:20). The man who does not fear God has no meaning in his life. His character, morality, and all his life will be feeble. His life is nothing but dust. [. . .]
Thus, if our ethical and moral life is good, we should thank God, because this is not the fruit of human efforts, but the life shaped by the Holy Spirit in the fear of God, and in the search for God's will. In a sense, the epidemic is a baptism, in which a lot of truth, goodness, and beauty are verified; There are also many falsehoods, evils and ugliness revealed in this baptism. However, only life shaped by the Holy Spirit can withstand the test of disaster. In face of the epidemic and the ongoing war, human beings must rethink their beliefs and face the basic choice of life again: whether to rely on the destiny boat constructed by human beings with their ability or cooperate with the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ to become the children of the Heavenly Father with Him and become truly God-fearing people? It should be known that those who do not fear God sincerely are more likely to fall into hypocrisy and affectation. After the epidemic of the century, there will inevitably be a wave of religion. Those who truly fear God are the most blessed.
Ⅱ. Filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on his body (Col 1:24)
During the epidemic, each of us has more or less experienced the pain of various symptoms, and even our close friends have died as a sacrifice in the epidemic. I would like to remind you that we should not link the infection or non-infection, survival or death with personal sins, although the concept of crime and punishment still has a deep-rooted association in our thinking. However, Jesus warned us that God does not always bring disaster to people because of his sin. Sometimes it is just a sign of love for him to repent and save his soul (See Lk13: 1-5 Sih Gao notes). God's mercy and forgiveness determine that he is not the maker of the plague. He uses the pain caused by human evil to warn people of their betrayal of God, and makes a deafening call to the world and mankind, urging us to change our ways and return to God's path and will. In our introspection, the plague should be like the "ruler" in the father's hand to teach and care for the stubborn children. We cannot control the virus, nor should we doubt God's "persona" or fear the coming of the end. We just need to listen to the voice of the merciful Heavenly Father calling us to repent and remember the truth that He will be with us every day (See Mt 28:20).
God not only invites us to repent in the epidemic situation but also calls humanity to be a redemptive sacrifice in the suffering of Christ. The innocent Lord Christ expressed his trust in the Heavenly Father and His love for the world on the cross. He carried human sin with his suffering and death so that we can have a resurrected life. The apostle of St. Paul exhorted us “Fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on his body” (Col 1:24). This is not to say that the sufferings of Christ for the savior are not enough, but to let the salvation mystery of Christ's wonderful body continue and play out in us. We take this as the driving force in face of illness and suffering, instead of complaining and hating passively, and we should accompany Jesus on the cross to experience redemption, shoulder the injustice of the world and society, and pity and forgive those brothers who "do not know what they do" (See Lk 23:34). [. . .]
Ⅲ. Lord desires mercy, not sacrifice (See Mt 9:13)
God is love, and He loves all the people. He is not like us, who judge others by pretending to be righteous. Christians should be more gracious to identify themselves as sinners and those who need God's mercy and salvation. We need to rely on God's mercy every moment of our faith journey, and this need also urges us to communicate to all the others the mercy and love we have received from God. In the epidemic situation, everyone is in danger, but we also need to care for others and provide help to others in need with empathy. We should not let viruses and prejudice become the barriers for us to serving others, and just curl up in the so-called security. Putting everything in God's hands is the real guarantee. [. . .]
We receive a loving life in Jesus. It is also the sign of the Holy Spirit in us that love is to serve and give life, to give oneself for the good of others. "Good Samaritan" is the image of Jesus himself and our example: He laid down his plan to help his brother in distress. In the epidemic situation, caring for the sick regardless of their comfort and safety is the best witness to the identity of God's children. Concern, sharing, and salvation are the face of God's love. The call for Christians is that God will present his image in us. In this epidemic and other disasters that followed, we should serve all those in need bravely and generously, instead of being indifferent, selfish, and hoarding. To love so humbly, God himself will invite us to sit on the throne at the feast of the kingdom of heaven (See Lk 14:1-14). God bestows a healthy body on us to serve others for the love of God. True faith is so simple that it is to receive a life of love from God and give love to others. Brothers and sisters, please practise love in joy!
Conclusion
Dear brothers and sisters, Pope Francis reflected and said: "After directly experiencing the fragility of our own lives and those around us, we can say that the biggest lesson we learned from COVID-19 is to understand that we need one another. Our greatest and most vulnerable treasure is brotherhood - the common humanity of God's children. And none of us can be saved alone. Therefore, we need to work together to pursue and promote the universal values that lead us to the road of brotherhood” (Pope Francis, 2023 New Year's Day World Peace Day Notice 3).
Indeed, we are fellow travellers, and face everything in the future together. We should not indulge in the idolatry and individualism of science or medicine. "Respect God and love others" will make our society and globalisation similar to the Kingdom of Heaven, and each of us will enjoy peace and harmony. Otherwise, we ourselves will experience inequality, injustice, poverty, and violence in an irrelevant way. Christians are light, salt, and yeast from the moment they are baptised. We must strive to promote a culture of compassion, care, sharing, and shared love in the generations we live in. By the grace of God, we do not belittle ourselves, but let our little kindness warm the world and people.
Finally, I wish brothers and sisters to plan their life and lives with "love" in the new year, to prevent and fight against the epidemic. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (See Mt. 6:33). May the Virgin Mary of “Comfort of Sorrow” bless you all safely into a new era of human history.
* Apostolic Administrator of Harbin
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13/02/2024 16:28
