Harbin () – As we all know, China is living in these weeks, after the restrictions of the Covid zero policy were lifted, the strongest wave of the pandemic. The first official data released yesterday by the Beijing authorities speak of 59,938 deaths linked to Covid between December 8 and January 12, although doubts remain about the reliability of these figures. The Chinese Catholic community is also facing the pandemic, mourning its victims but reflecting at the same time in the light of their faith. This is the view that Bishop Joseph Zhao Hongchun, apostolic administrator of Harbin, in the province of Heilongjiang, in the far north of the country, proposes to his faithful in a pastoral letter. A deep reflection of which we offer extensive extracts below.
Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, may God give you the peace that the world cannot reach, through the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus! (…).
Three years of epidemic prevention have left too many difficult memories. When it started, we were caught off guard by the infection, the high fever during the night, the muscle aches, the loss of taste and smell… And all of this caused us and our families to experience pain and fear, and even the threat of death. . Faced with an epidemic that has trapped the world like a net, we must remember the most important thing: that we are children of God. This is the only truth that can help us cope with any suffering or pain, and even with the most tragic circumstances. This submission to God is the only thing that can help us discover what is the center of life and understand its direction. Therefore, we must make peace with the Lord and return to a close relationship with Him during the test of the epidemic.
During the epidemic we have witnessed the loss of countless lives and have experienced the value and vulnerability of life more deeply. This value is so precious that before it all the splendor of the world is eclipsed. And its fragility shows us how foolish it is to pay attention only to the beauty, health and wealth that the world offers instead of focusing on the eternal works. Therefore, we must get rid of a self-centered and selfish life. Otherwise, we can only passively endure the agony of waiting for a life that passes and is consumed very quickly, struggling without hope. Because if our life deviates from the center and from the direction it should have, it will inevitably end up running towards the true “death”.
I. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9,10)
First of all, the signs of wisdom do not consist of knowledge, skill and education. While these values are not mutually exclusive with wisdom itself, due to people’s selfishness and arrogance it is quite easy to rely on talent to be proud, follow preconceived ideas at all levels, and ultimately lose wisdom. The “wisdom” the Bible speaks of belongs to God and is related to the courage to worship God and seek life. It is living in the world according to the will of God, according to the truth revealed by God. That is a truly meaningful life. Wisdom is not something we can obtain by ourselves. It is a gift from God, so we can only receive it from God by living in constant humility. That way we can know what pleases God and what doesn’t, and have fear of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:20). The man who does not fear God cannot see the meaning of his life. His character, his morals and his whole life will be weak. His life is but dust. (…).
Therefore, if our ethical and moral life is good, we must thank God, because it is not the fruit of human effort but of a life modeled by the Holy Spirit in the fear of God, in search of God’s will. . In a way, the epidemic is a baptism, in which many supposed truths, benefits and beauties are put to the test. In this baptism many falsehoods are revealed, many evils and many ugliness. However, only the life shaped by the Holy Spirit is capable of withstanding the test of disaster. Faced with the pandemic and the war that we are experiencing, human beings must rethink their convictions and face once again the fundamental decision of life: trust the boat of destiny built by human beings with their abilities or cooperate with the Holy Spirit. of the Lord Jesus Christ to become children of the Heavenly Father together with Him, and to be truly God-fearing people. It should be noted that those who do not sincerely fear God are more likely to fall into hypocrisy and ostentation. After the epidemic of this century, a religious wave will inevitably come, and those who truly fear God will be the most blessed.
II. “To complete in our flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” (Col. 1.24)
During the epidemic, each of us experienced to a greater or lesser extent the pain caused by the various symptoms, and even some of our closest friends died as sacrifices in the epidemic. I would like to remind you that we should not associate contagion or non-contagion, survival or death with personal sins, although the concept of crime and punishment is an association that is still deeply rooted in our thinking. However, Jesus told us that God does not always send disasters to people because of his sin. Sometimes the disaster itself is a show of love, so that the person repents and his soul is saved. (Luke 13:1-5). God’s mercy and forgiveness tell us that he is not the author of this plague. God uses the pain caused by human wickedness to warn people about their own betrayal of God, and makes a deafening appeal to the world and humanity, urging us to change our ways and return to God’s way and will. In our introspection, the plague should be like the “rod” in the hands of the father to teach and care for his stubborn children. We cannot control the virus and neither should we doubt the “person” of God or fear that the end is coming. We just have to listen to the voice of the merciful Heavenly Father who calls us to repent and remember the truth that He will be with us every day (Mt 28,20).
God not only invites us to repentance in the situation of the epidemic, but also calls humanity to be a redemptive sacrifice, joining the suffering of Christ. The innocent Lord Jesus Christ expressed his trust in Heavenly Father and his love for the world on the cross. He took on human sin with his suffering and death so that we can have a resurrected life. The apostle Saint Paul exhorts us to “complete in my flesh what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ” (Col. 1:24). This does not mean that the sufferings of Christ the Savior are not enough, but rather that the salvific mystery of the mysterious Body of Christ continues through us. Let us take this as the driving force against disease and suffering. Instead of passively complaining and hating, we have to accompany Jesus on the cross to participate in redemption, bear the injustice of the world and society, feel compassion and forgive those brothers and sisters who “don’t know what they’re doing” . (Cf. Lc 23, 34). (…).
III. The Lord desires mercy, not sacrifices (See Mt. 9:13)
God is love and loves all people. It is not like us, who judge others by pretending to be fair. Christians should be more used to identifying themselves as sinners, in need of God’s mercy and salvation. We need to entrust ourselves to the mercy of God at every moment of our journey of faith, and this need also drives us to communicate to all people the mercy and love that we have received from God. In the epidemic situation we are all in danger, but we also have to care for others and provide help to people in need with empathy. We cannot allow the virus and prejudices to become barriers when it comes to serving others. If we act that way, we are only hiding in what we call “security”. The true guarantee is to put everything in God’s hands. (…).
We have received a life of love in Jesus. And the sign of the Holy Spirit is that for us love is to serve and to give one’s life, to give oneself for the good of others. The “Good Samaritan” is the image of Jesus himself and an example for us. He has established his plan to help the brothers in difficulties. In the epidemic situation, caring for the sick without taking into account their own comfort and safety is the best testimony of the identity of the children of God. Caring, sharing and salvation are the face of God’s love. The call for Christians is for God to present his image through us. In this epidemic and all the other disasters that have followed, we need to serve all those in need with courage and generosity, instead of being indifferent, selfish and hoarding. If we have loved with that humility, God himself will invite us to sit in the main place at the feast of the kingdom of heaven (Cfr. Lk 14, 1-14). God gives us a healthy body to serve others out of love for God. True faith is that simple: receive a life of love from God and give love to others. Brothers and sisters, practice love with joy!
Conclution
Dear brothers and sisters, Pope Francis said in a reflection: “After directly experiencing the fragility of our lives and those around us, we can say that the greatest lesson we have learned from COVID-19 is to understand that we need each other.” others and that the most vulnerable treasure is brotherhood – the common humanity shared by the children of God – and that none of us can be saved alone, therefore we must work together to seek and promote the universal values that guide us on the path of fraternity”. (Pope Francis, Message for the World Day of Peace, New Year 2023). Indeed, we are fellow travelers. In the future we should face everything together. We must not fall into idolatry and individualism of science or medicine.”Respecting God and loving others” will make our society and globalization more like the Kingdom of Heaven, and each of us will enjoy peace and harmony. Rather, we ourselves will experience inequality, injustice, poverty and violence. Christians are light, salt and yeast from the moment they are baptized. We must try to promote a culture of compassion, care, sharing and love in the generation in which we live. With God’s grace, let’s not put ourselves down and allow our small acts of kindness to warm the hearts of the world and people.
In conclusion, I wish our brothers and sisters to plan their life in the new year according to love, to prevent and fight the epidemic. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will also be given to you in addition (Mt. 6:33). May the Virgin Mary, “Solace in Pain”, bless you all and keep you safe and sound in a new era of human history.
* Apostolic Administrator of Harbin
