"We thank the heroic people whose love and courage have already been a source of healing and hope these past weeks," Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said in a message given through Vatican Media last March 26.
Fight the Pandemic with Hope, Charity
The Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples said that the only antidote to this Coronavirus pandemic is hope through charity:
"An emergency crisis that erupts unexpectedly can be addressed only by an equal 'eruption' of hope. A pandemic spread of a virus must produce a pandemic “contagion” of charity."
From an emergency that affects all people (pandemia), we hope to see a pandemic emergence of caring, compassion and love.
This is a COMMON Emergency
While noting that "in an emergency, the true heart of a person also emerges," Cardinal Tagle encouraged us all to have a genuine concern for others.
"During emergencies, we instinctively think first of ourselves, our families and the people close to us. We will do anything within our means to protect them. While this reaction is basically good, we should be careful so that we do not end up thinking only of ourselves. We should avoid fear from making us blind to the needs of other people, those needs that are the same as ours. We should prevent anxiety from killing genuine concern for neighbors. ... History will judge our generation by the power of selfless love that this common emergency will have generated and spread or will have failed to do so."
We pray through the power of the Holy Spirit, genuine love for all may emerge from all human hearts as we face a common emergency.
We Cannot Wash Our Hands of Our Responsibility to the Poor
Cardinal Tagle, who is still also the President of Caritas Internationalis, noted that while we are reminded to wash our hands, we must not wash our hands like Pilate.
"Experts say that we should wash our hands to avoid being contaminated by the virus and to avoid spreading it. At the trial of Jesus, Pontius Pilate called for water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, declaring as he did, 'I am innocent of the blood of this just man. The responsibility is yours (Matthew 27:24). We should wash our hands, but not the way Pilate did ..."
We cannot wash our hands of our responsibility towards the poor, the elderly, the unemployed, the refugees, the homeless, the health providers, indeed all people, creation and future generations.
Watch the full reflection by clicking the video below:
by Margaux Salcedo, DominusEst.PH
Source: Vatican News
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