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Invisible powers

June 9, 2020
By Father Joseph Breighner
Filed Under: Commentary, Coronavirus, Wit & Wisdom

As I write these words, we are still under a coronavirus lockdown. I hope by the time you read these words we will be free.

We Americans don’t like being ruled by something or someone else. We didn’t want a king so we fought the Revolutionary War to claim our independence. We fought World Wars I and II to free others, and to keep ourselves free from dictators. For more than half a century we have fought to keep ourselves free, and to free others, from Communism. But the coronavirus has proven to be a different kind of enemy. How do you fight an enemy you can’t see? How do you fight an invisible enemy?

One reaction is to fight each other. Initially, we blamed the president and the State Department and the “spy agencies.” Why didn’t they know? Some have even asked, “Where were the New York Times and Wall Street Journal with all their investigative reporters?” We have lots of questions and few answers.

Gradually, however, we discovered that blaming and fighting with each other helps no one.

Far better to fight the virus itself.

And we have discovered that the enemy is not completely invisible. Under intense magnification we can see the virus. We can help patients to battle and survive it.

Our best defense is to not get the virus. That’s why we are all encouraged to “shelter in place.” The more we can isolate from each other, the less likely we will infect each other.

Being still is not easy for most of us, but it becomes easier when we realize that we are not alone in our stillness. That’s why I love the voice of God in the Psalms: “Be still and know that I am God!” In the stillness we discover the God who will never completely abandon us.

Over the centuries, we humans have survived plagues and famines and natural disasters. I don’t pretend to know why God allows them, but I do know that as a human race we survive them.

Those who die experience the fullness of God’s presence. We who live know God as Emmanuel – God with us. When we are tempted to give into fear of the invisible enemy, we need to know that we have a so much more wonderful and powerful invisible Friend.

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Father Joseph Breighner

Father Joseph Breighner is a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and a columnist for the Catholic Review.

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