4/2/20

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

Have you ever noticed that when we think back on our lives we often remember those times as being happier times than they truly were when we lived through them? When I think back on my days in high school I remember the good things that happened, but I have to force myself to remember what the frustrations and difficulties from that time felt like. We recall what was good, and while not forgetting what was bad, we no longer feel the suffering or stress or anxiety that the unpleasant events elicited. And so we remember long past events in a much gentler and fond light than what the reality of the situations were. 

The same will be true of the events we're now undergoing. We will remember the time spent with family and friends– spouses, children, roommates, and forget what is difficult. We will forget what the isolation, restlessness, fear and anxiety felt like because we are no longer in the situation that caused them and will know how everything turned out as our minds look back on today. We will recall the annoyance of being cooped up with others, experiencing first hand all their faults (and our own!), but we will no longer feel its force because we are no longer in the situation, and we will think fondly of the time we had together with family and loved ones. We will remember the persons we love, and no longer feel the annoyance we all caused.

We can use this observation about past memories to our advantage now. We can choose to focus on the good right now– to focus on the love we have for those we are now isolated with, and to discount the annoyances and fears of this moment. To do so we must first cultivate gratitude for what good things and people we currently have. We must be thankful for the people we have around us, to remember what is good about them and why we love them, even when they (and we) don't make it easy. We need to be thankful for whatever God has equipped us with in the moment, and focus on those good things rather than what we lack or wish we had. Focusing on what we do not and cannot have at this time can never bring us any peace or joy, and such thoughts will only undermine our strength at this moment, as well as robbing us of any joy. Each day pray a prayer of thanksgiving to God for whatever we have right now. Focus on the good of this moment, focus on what you will remember in 20 years, and not on the feelings of restlessness, anxiety, and fear. 

Second, trust in God. We do not know how events will unfold or what will happen to us in the future, but He does. Trust in His plan of salvation for us. Our minds cannot find peace when worried about the future because no matter how much we obsess and worry about it we never come nearer to actually knowing the future. Such dark anxiety never finds completion or rest and only drains away the possibility of joy and peace in the moment. The key is to place our hope in God and let His divine Providence unfold, accepting and trusting in His will. Only then can our minds and souls find peace and be open to joy. In other words, as long as we live in the illusion that we are ultimately in control we will never be joyful or find inner peace. Too much of life is beyond our control (like global pandemics!), and we will always be filled with anxiety because we know that our control is an illusion– we'll always be fearful that a world we neither created nor control will undo our illusory dreams. The way of pride is always marked with fear. The only way out is to accept that we are only creatures and that God is God, and then turn to God in trust. We will never find peace through convincing ourselves we are in control, but rather by trusting in Him who is and thus avoiding the whole cycle of fear and anxiety. 

Let us then live this moment with gratitude and trust in God. If we do so we'll find that not only will we look back fondly on this time spent with family or friends, but we can also discover that future remembered joy even now. Let us live a life of thanksgiving to God and find the joy that He promises us, even in these difficult times.

Finally, we are now entering Holy Week– the holiest week of the year. We celebrate the deepest mysteries of our faith; we celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death, and the salvation He won for us. Let us focus on these most profound truths, truths more fundamental and more joyful than any current events. Let us understand our lives not merely in light of the current pandemic, but in the most sublime and deepest of lights– in the light of our salvation in Christ and our call to eternal life with God in heaven.

In Christ,

Fr. Boniface