The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed a corrupt system and culture. The pandemic did not break the system, for the system was already broken. The masses have been suffering way before the pandemic.
God is in every act of kindness that we extend to the people around us especially those who have lost much. In the midst of all the efforts that are being done to defeat this virus, in the midst of all the fear, doubt, desperation, anger, and frustration, an act of kindness is like a tiny, insignificant whispering sound. And yet it is there where hope springs anew. God is there.
The ownership of land is in the hands of the powerful people – the landed elites, the mighty corporations that exacted money out of the hard labor, sweat, and blood of the oppressed. They are the bureaucrats, the people in the governments who governed as if the fate of the people is in their hands to give or to put to an end.
Rest is also about releasing the heavy burden of yoke of slavery from unjust laws and practices. Rest is learning to set boundaries and saying “no” to any form of exploitation. For us today, rest is also about resistance.
It’s hard to be a prophet; it is difficult to tell and live by the truth, to raise our voice and denounce what is wrong. It is more comfortable to remain at the margins in silence and pretend not to see and hear what is happening, or to let the others talk. Still, if one wants a real change in our society, a community faithful to the Gospel and more docile to the spirit, if one aspires to a newness of life, prophets are needed. Like Jeremiah, may we have the courage to say what the Lord tells us, even at the risk of life.
Let us be the feet of God, go to those who are in need. Let us be the hands of God, share and give whatever little that you have to those who are most in need. Let us be the mouthpiece of God, denounce that which brings pain and sorrow to our brothers and sisters in the margins.
This is the time to act. This is the time to embrace those suffering in the fringes of society. A time to rise up.