THINK ABOUT IT

I smiled at her as she handed me the receipt. I bought some necessities at the grocery yesterday. 

She smiled back & said, "God bless po!"

I asked her, "Paano ka pumapasok dito?"
"Naglalakad po"
She mentioned that it takes her an hour to report for work. That's two hours of walking each day! Plus the risk of getting infected.

"Salamat, God bless you too!" 

Those were my parting words to her.

Her story made me sad. It made me think what could be the purpose of this pandemic.

When Mary heard from the angel that she would be pregnant "she was greatly troubled at what was said & pondered" (Luke 1:29). Maybe she also asked herself, "what could be the purpose of this?" Maybe it was not so clear for her at the start.

The first reading tells us the purpose.

".....a virgin shall conceive, & bear a son, & shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!” - Isaiah 7:14; 8:10

The announcement of the angel may sound like bad news at first for the 14 year old Mary. She eventually said YES & that brought about a greater good for all of us. Her "yes" made "God with us" a reality for everyone.

I don't think we will know easily what this pandemic is for. Maybe we won't even know in our lifetime. We can only ponder what's the purpose of this. But if you look closely you will see some hints.

1. Big corporations donating millions or even billions of Pesos to help out

2. Doctors, nurses & other frontliners risking their lives beyond the call of duty.

3. Ordinary people giving up their hard earned cash

4. Countries helping out one another

5. An elderly priest with Covid-19 refusing the ventilator so that a younger patient may survive. This priest eventually dies.

There are more wonderful stories of love in the midst of this pandemic. Things around us now may not look good. We are bombarded with bad news that makes us anxious & afraid. But there's one thing we can hold on to.

That GOD's PURPOSE will be fulfilled THROUGH the PAIN.

God will always bring out something good from whatever bad situation we are in.

Romans 8:28 says "We know that in everything God works for good..."

I know it's hard. I personally struggle when things become extra difficult. But we have to avoid the trap of trying to control the un-controllable.

So what should we do? Just Obey. Kapit lang. Manalig. Trust God. Keep the faith! - alvinfabella@yahoo.com

#ShareAboutJesus #LENT2020