Pope amidst the coronavirus crisis: Do not be afraid

Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi meditation (Vatican News)

Re-telling the story about how Jesus calmed the storm, Pope Francis has called on the faithful to not be afraid amidst the threat of coronavirus pandemic.

In his Urbi et Orbi message on coronavirus pandemic, the pope said that the pandemic has caused darkness everywhere like when evening comes.

“Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost,” he said in his message delivered last March 28 from the Vatican.

He said that the people can understand themselves by looking at how the disciples were afraid in the storm due to their lack of faith saying, “In spite of the tempest, he sleeps on soundly, trusting in the Father; this is the only time in the Gospels we see Jesus sleeping. When he wakes up, after calming the wind and the waters, he turns to the disciples in a reproaching voice: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” (v. 40).

“The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities,” he said.

The pope also asked the faithful to look into the many people who are exercising patience and offering hope and not spread panic amidst the coronavirus crisis they are in.

“How many fathers, mothers, grandparents and teachers are showing our children, in small everyday gestures, how to face up to and navigate a crisis by adjusting their routines, lifting their gaze and fostering prayer. How many are praying, offering and interceding for the good of all,” the pope said.

He also told the faithful to use prayer and quiet service as their victorious weapons in battling the crisis caused by this pandemic which brought the cancellation of masses in different parts of the world including the Vatican.

The pope has enjoined everyone to embrace the cross saying, “By his cross we have been saved in order to embrace hope and let it strengthen and sustain all measures and all possible avenues for helping us protect ourselves and others.”