I learned of the imminent community quarantine of the National Capital Region in the evening of March 12, a few hours after arriving in Iligan City for my periodic visits to my 92-year old Mom and what is left of my immediate blood family. With 48 hours before the suspension of all flights to NAIA, I realized that while the prospect of a 30-day vacation with my blood family was appealing, my place was with my flock and in my ordinary work. Cutting my visit by a day, I was able to get a flight back to Manila, also a few hours before the โlockdown.โ
A big part of that decision was the prospect of catching up on the spiritual direction of the many souls under my care. However, the reality of the quarantine soon set in: if the greatest threat of the COVID-19 virus was contagionโwhich depended on transmission through physical proximityโthen the best antidote was social distancing: to cut off the transmission. The positive experience of Macau, which achieved reduction to zero new cases after a total lockdown of just 14 days, in contrast to the epidemic in Europe due to a long inaction after the initial contamination, is proof of the effectiveness of this very simple (albeit very inconvenient) procedure. Hence, I find myself in a situation of relative isolation. Again, it would have been so easy to just settle into 30 days of scholarly work and a physical fitness program, both of which appealed to me greatly. But I guess I did not become a priest to just be a scholar and an athlete. Then some words of St. Josemarรญa Escrivรก came to mind:
The plants were hidden under the snow. And the farmer, the owner of the land, remarked with satisfaction: “Now they’re growing on the inside.” I thought of you, of your forced inactivity… Tell me, are you also growing on the inside?
The Way, n.294
Those words, first addressed to meโnot only by St. Josemaria but (in the intimacy of my prayer) most of all by Our LordโI soon realized were addressed to all. Indeed, while this global pandemic is humanly speaking a disaster of the first caliberโsome are referring to it as the biggest crisis of Europe since World War IIโin the economy of salvation it would seem like a much-needed crisis. Remember that a crisis is the rethinking of a position that has hitherto been peacefully accepted. Now isnโt the prevailing world order in much need of a re-examining? Much closer to home, isnโt the way we have been living the Lenten Season in much need of re-examining? In recent memory, Lent has increasingly become a time of vacation, with Holy Week anything but holy since it is spent by going to the beach or enjoying life in the province.
Then the Corona Virus struck, and now the NCR is in a veritable lockdown. All of a sudden we have 30 days of forced relative isolation for the much-needed social distancing. Well, let us not waste these days, which for sure Divine Providence has not foisted upon us for no good reason. Nothing happens at the margin of Godโs will, and Godโs will is our sanctification. In my mind, the silver lining in all this seeming tragedy lies in a situation where we shall all be forced to cut down on external activity, lessen the noise and achieve the quiet that is much needed for an effective Lenten exercise. Divine Providence has provided us a setting for a real spiritual retreat.
Hence, this 30-day series of daily meditations. I call it The Corona Retreat.
22 replies on “Introduction”
Thanks for this great chance to be using these 30 days of Lent finding more time with our Lord . ( Ave Maria, Florida)
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Thank you Fr. Jim for redirecting my fears to prayer.
Also, God answered my prayer to help me set the right tone to spend Holy week with my family meditating on the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord. The COVID 19 phenomenon made things easy for us to be more contemplative.
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This is simply the best answer to my prayer. Thanks be to God and to you, Fr. Jimmy.
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Happy to be of help, always, Belensky.
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I am joining the corona retreat !
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Ok
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Thank you Fr!
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Thank you, Fr. Jim. I will join the retreat, albeit a day late. We just had Confession, thanks to Fr. Michael.
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I am happy to receive from a friend the link to your blog. Thanks Fr. A!
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Thank you Fr. Jim. Would you consider please recording actual 30-minute meditations and uploading them here? Much like Spiritual Batteries in SoundCloud.
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I agree father. And I thank you for the opportunity to journey with you on this retreat. I consider this a blessing, as usually a retreat is only 3 days! Thank you for doing this father.
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Welcome to the blogging community, Father Jim! This blog is proof that the Lord will always find a way to reach out to us. Thank you for your generosity in acting on His inspiration to start this online retreat. Beautiful words and photos, inspired by the Spirit. God bless you and will pray for you. Please include us in your prayers. Thank you. ๐๐ปโจ๐
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Thanks be to God. Thank you Fr. for helping & guiding us in our prayer. Praying ๐ for you too.
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thank you po, Fr Jim
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May i join po?
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Welcome Corito!
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May I join too Fr. Jim? I tried to subscribe to your blog so I can receive your daily meditations. But I havenโt been receiving any, although it somehow sent me a confirmation that I will be receiving new posts via my email. May I ask for your help Father if itโs not too late to join the retreat? Thank you.
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Am joining the coronaretreat
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I want to be a regular participant to the retreat and subsequent postings.
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I want to be a regular participant to the retreat and subsequent postings.
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Am a few days late but would like join this retreat
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Fr. Jim
Thank you for your inspiring and profound and brilliant meditations. Looking forward to more. True to form. Regards from Los Angeles CA
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