Aloha nui to all ohanas and peace be with you!
On this Monday of the 4th Week of Easter, we continue to shelter in place as we move closer to an end to isolation, in our businesses, in our churches, in our communities, state, country and world.
I want to share with you a reflection I wrote for my Regional Superior in California on the similarities between COVID-19 and Leprosy:
When Fr. “Damien” Joseph DeVeuster, SS.CC. arrived at Kalaupapa, Molokai with Bishop Maigret, SS.CC. at 11am on May 10, 1873, he had no idea what was going to happen to him and to the hundreds of leprosy victims being quarantined on this small peninsula so isolated from the rest of the world. Damien and the lepers survived together as best they could under such difficult circumstances for sixteen years until Damien succumbed to the dreaded disease in 1889.
Here we are, almost 150 years later, faced with a similar situation, a pandemic of the COVID-19 virus that has swept across the world.
The parallels are astonishing!
In Damien’s time, there was no cure for leprosy. As of now, there is no cure for COVID-19.
Both leprosy and COVID-19 attacks the immune system, especially those with immune deficiencies.
In Damien’s time, isolation was the common practice to prevent leprosy from spreading. Right now, we are under stay-at-home orders and are isolating ourselves to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Damien and the lepers had to suffer many shortages of needed supplies and materials all the time. During this pandemic, there have been shortages of supplies and materials in some places needed to fight the spread of the virus.
Damien had to struggle with a sometimes slowness or lack of response from the authorities. In our pandemic, the response from some authorities has not been as speedy and efficient as people would have liked it to be.
But, despite all the challenges, Damien was able to survive the isolation, the contagion, the fear, the desperation, the hopelessness and the unknown with great courage, strength, faith and love.
I believe Damien right now in Heaven knows exactly what we’re going through because he went through it himself. He must have felt lonely and isolated. He must have had some fear of the unknown. This is evident in some of his letters, to his superiors, to his family and to the authorities.
But, and I feel very strongly about this, Damien can be for us a tremendous source of inspiration, strength and courage to all the world as we all struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Damien could have given up and asked to leave Molokai and the lepers, but he hunkered down and did the best he could to help alleviate many of the fears and isolation of the lepers and himself.
May the Apostle to the lepers of Molokai, St. “Damien” Joseph DeVeuster, SS.CC., be for all of us a beacon of light in a sea of seeming darkness!
May he show us the way to adapt to our present situation, because he has gone before us in this and “been there, done that”!
God Bless Father Damien and God Bless us!
Our Scripture today has Peter entering the house of uncircumcised people, an unclean no-no for circumcised believers. But, Peter’s soul was athirst for the living God, alive in all people, circumcised and uncircumcised, believers and Gentiles. Peter was following the example of Jesus of being a good shepherd in times of challenge, watching out for the flock and those outside the flock as well. It was Jesus who said, “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
We can all share something of what God has given to us with someone else. We can all be good shepherds! In this time of social distancing and quarantine, it is of the utmost importance, both for our mental and spiritual health that we do whatever we can for someone else! It is the mark of a good shepherd who cares! We can all be good shepherds if we but try! Amen! Alleluia!
+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Alleluia!