Today, Palm Sunday, I listened to the homily given by Archpriest Victor Potapov (Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, in Washington, DC). At the end, he quoted a friend of his:
This is my transcription of the passage, highlighting how Covid-19 can help us reset our spiritual life.
You can access the original in Russian and English here, starting at 2:07:11: https://youtu.be/BUje3CPp9fM?t=7631
“A very short analysis on what’s going on in this world. And from what he [my friend] writes, we can gather some good advice as to what we can receive for our spiritual lives, and our relationships through this illness that mankind is faced with. And some of the things we should run away from.
‘I watch what is happening as a result of the Coronavirus, and I increasingly understand that mankind urgently needed such a shake up.
Think how we lived our lives the last decades.
The Coronavirus will make you rethink your whole life. Mankind will live differently after overcoming this virus.
Nature and Our Lord have become weary of our contemptuous attitude towards our health and the environment. We have stopped being human. Hubris overtook our minds, and we began to feel that we are the masters of the world. But the tiny virus quickly put us in our place.
This virus does not spare neither the wealthy nor the politicians, making it clear that they cannot escape it on their own private jets, nor can they buy health for money.
And I thought recently:
We lost the ability to live as families, and so the disease shut us up in our houses, so we could learn to live as a family once again.
We stopped appreciating health workers, and got the disease, to understand that they are irreplaceable.
We stopped respecting teachers, so the disease closed schools, so parents could appreciate how hard it is to teach.
We spent our free time in shopping malls, and the disease closed them, so we could realize that happiness was not in material things.
We spent a lot of time on our looks and comparing ourselves to others, so the disease hid our faces with masks, to makes us realize that beauty was not skin deep.
The disease takes a great deal from us, but at the same time gives us an opportunity to grow in the understanding of what is most important in our lives. We were given a disease tailored to our needs.
May God help us to humble ourselves, so that humility will give us wisdom.’
Thus is the short and to the point analysis of the present situation in the world and society offered by my old friend.”
Myrtle Skete 