SURVIVING THESE TIMES AS A CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN.

The Lenten period this year, the way it came so fast got me wondering; Oh! this is so out of the ordinary, when it was announced in church. As customary with the church's practices, the season  usually ends with the holy week which also include the Easter tridum; Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter vigil itself. Now, with the onslaught led by corona virus pandemic, This year's season has been one of my weirdest as a christian. I mean by now, we would be assembling firewood for the "the light of peter" at least so they call it in my local parish. This pandemic has robbed us of the indulgences we are opportune to make all through the season with a satisfying end on the night of Easter. At a point this week, I remember seeing one advertisement from one of the top airlines around. The Ad focused on how humans generally have taken all the normal  things we used to do pre- the corona virus pandemic for granted; and how they cannot get back to flying again. come to think of it, isn't this the reality of all of us? The Lenten season in the church highlights the weeks of mercy of Jesus Christ, his death,  and finally the end which culminates into the Easter celebrations of the risen lord. 

Surviving these times as a catholic christian has been nothing of incomplete. This is the only word that fully describes this feeling. With masses that have now been replaced with services in our respective homes, the lack of communal gathering, and oh! the joy one experiences with worshiping with the people  of God have been replaced. Omo! Corona do us strong ting o; Ordinarily today being good Friday, The only day in which mass is not celebrated, where the passion service, the sacraments of penance is celebrated while communion is given to the faithful. The passion of our lord Jesus Christ is celebrated and the crucifix is covered coupled with its veneration. Due to this pandemic, we are robbed of that expectation we feel seeing the crucifix covered only for it to be unveiled on the vigil of Easter to commemorate the savior's victory over sin and death. What about the 'Gloria' that is not sang,  throughout the Lenten season in order to build up our joy when it is finally sung tomorrow. One of the ways the church sees as partaking in Christ's life journey.

On the chat group of my local church, the parish priest blurted out that he has missed us so much. Who can blame him, what is a shepherd without the flock? It is understandable that we all long for these old times, as the average human is not a hermit by nature; and we are not all built to live the solitary life. Hence, as we are fast approaching one of the biggest feasts of Christianity. The sole event which qualifies all of us as Christians; the singular event which defined our christian life.Due to the Covid-19 lock down, the opportunity is presented to us to assess where we are in our christian living. The current situation in the world, may make one be tempted to flout lock  down regulations and celebrate as we have always done. But this is not the right time, as communal gatherings can be highly detrimental to our collective health.

Let us stay at home and celebrate in the best ways possible; heck we all miss the old  times, but we should all exercise restraint and help our health workers as much as we can just by staying at home. God will reward  us according to his riches in glory;  there are many more Easters to come and God will certainly help us to witness them when they are here, heck by then we will only Thank God for counting us worthy and be more  appreciative of what we once had that has been given to us again. The period is temporary and sooner than later, we will soon go back to doing what we love. Happy Easter!