Lockdown: a new found freedom?

I’ve lived in Rome for almost four years now and I’ve never seen it so…still. Places which are normally overflowing with people (like the Trevi Fountain or St. Peter’s Square) are almost completely deserted. The noise of traffic has died down to an occasional hum and the number of street conversations heard from our window has greatly decreased.

Masses are being celebrated behind closed doors but the church bells still ring, reminding us of the Sacrifice being offered. Since “lockdown” began the general public can no longer participate physically but their spiritual union in this offering is more encouraged now than ever.

What we have in the coronavirus is a common enemy. People are scared, and it is understandable. Every time the government issues a new statement we hold our breath to see what now will be taken from us. Our freedom feels more and more restricted and our control all but gone…and then we begin to realize that what’s been taken is a false control that never really was and, accepting this, we find ourselves freer than ever before.

The human person has always had a precarious existence. To think we can truly control what happens in our life is an illusion. We certainly have our role to play, and our decisions are very important in determining many outcomes in our life. However, so many factors remain outside of our jurisdiction. Let’s consider a very simple example. You organize your morning routine so that everything is calculated to the exact minute. You do everything according to plan and are maybe even a tad early…but the bus is running late and you still don’t make it to work on time.

What this pandemic has done is reveal to us in a more obvious way our lack of control. And this for us is a blessing. Believe it or not, “being in control” (or rather feeling in control) is a form of enslavement. When I feel in control, everything depends on me. My every action is weighted with responsibility beyond my capability. This weight translates into stress, anxiety, pressure, exaggerated expectation, disappointment, and fear. I’m afraid to make a mistake because, if so, all will be lost.

God doesn’t want us to live under this weight of false responsibility. He wants to free us through our dependence on Him. God wants us to recognize that He is in control, that He is handling it, that He has thought it all through and knows what He is doing. He wants us to see Him as the Loving Father that He is, worthy of our trust, and true to His promises. And He invites us, His children, into a full participation of this plan. Therefore, He has gifted us with our free will allowing us to participate without assuming the heavy load of He who engineered the plan. In this way our responsibility truly becomes a response to the Father’s gift of life.

Our freedom then comes through trust in God; trust in His overall plan; trust that it is enough for us to carry out the part entrusted to us without having to bear the burden of the whole. It is this trust that sets us free.

When I am afraid and feel at peace: that’s freedom. When in the midst of sorrow and I can still hope: that’s freedom. When cast down in disappointment and I can still trust: that’s freedom. When thrust into despair and I still have faith: that’s freedom. When encountered with evil and I can still believe in goodness: that’s freedom. When suffering and I still know I’ve been saved: that’s freedom.

I do not believe that God “sent” us the coronavirus. I do not believe it is a punishment that should make us turn to Him. I do believe that God uses all things; that He can bring good even out of the bad that the coronavirus has brought into the world. I also believe that all events in our lives can lead to conversion and so, yes, we are called to convert also during this world crisis – I know I am! We are invited into a greater trust in God and a greater unity among us. In this historic moment we are men and women with a common enemy, but before this and for long after, we remain brothers and sisters with a common Father...and here lies our truest freedom!

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. 

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses 

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.