The Catholic Weekly 19 April 2020

8 19, April, 2020 F rom the archbishop catholicweekly.com.au HE IS RISEN Christ’s victory over death and sin conquers all evil and suffering. This is the justification for our faith S aved fromwhat? Christians talk a lot about salvation through Jesus’ cross and resurrection, but in this age of science and technolo- gy, affluence and education, big government and media, do we really need saving? Well, healthcare may address our physical diseases, but we The Resurrection, by Sebastiano Ricci, circa 1715-16. It is Christ’s resurrection - and nothing else - that overcomes all evil and suffering in the end. IMAGE:WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/PUBLIC DOMAIN A huge crowd gathers at the funeral of Veronique Sakr, one of the four children killed on 1 February in a tragic accident. know that it can at best only postpone our deaths. We are all left wondering: is there life after death? Then, there are the moral, intellectual and emotional problems that are often even more resistant to prevention and cure than the physical ones. The COVID-19 crisis has re- vealed some of the best things about Australians, but it’s also unveiled our ‘shadow side’: our anxieties and self-protec- tiveness, selfish hoarding and blame-games. It’s precisely to address this sort of thing— the sickness of sin—that Jesus died and rose, as well as to ad- dress sin’s triumph in death. What are some of the good things that we’ve demonstrat- ed during the COVID-19 cri- sis which help ‘redeem’ this difficult moment, pointing us in more positive ways going forward? That we’re all vulnerable and dependent, some easily spooked or panicked, and so we need each other’s support. That some things, people, ide- als, matter most to us and that there are sides at least as im- portant as physical health and safety about us. That isolation is difficult for most people, that a sense of neighbourli- ness can be recovered, but that we must push the bound- aries on who we include amongst our ‘neighbours’. And that in a crisis we can become insular as a na- tion or as individuals and so must scrutinise that carefully, knowing that sharing can be hard but is right. We’ve been mightily im- pressed by the courage and self-giving of our health pro- fessionals, pastoral work- ers and others, caring for the dead, sick or at risk: we should imitate their generos- ity and support themwell in the future. We’ve witnessed our po- litical, business and labour leaders cast aside ideological differences to lead us through these dangers, and keep our polity and economy going: let’s hope that long continues. We’ve seen essential service workers stay on the job, others work from home, those out of work looking out for others. We’ve proven we can adapt: now we’ve learnt how, I sus- pect Zoommeetings will be much more a part of life going forward. And we’ve found new plac- es and ways to pray and share our faith and ideals. While of course much will eventually return to normal, it will be a new normal, and it will be up to us all to make sure that new normal is a better normal, more just and compassionate, more hopeful and caring. A boy and his dad came into this cathedral to pray. The Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP