Reflection
Advent calls us to be open to a new way of thinking, a new way of living. These words of Pope Francis can be fundamental to our reflection on this call.
If we are to come out of this crisis less selfish than when we went in, we have to let ourselves be touched by others’ pain. This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities — what we value, what we want, what we seek — and to commit to act in our daily life on what we have dreamed of.
God asks us to dare to create something new. We need to slow down, take stock and design better ways of living together on this earth.
The pandemic has exposed the paradox that while we are more connected, we are also more divided. It is hard to build a culture of encounter, in which we meet as people with a shared dignity, within a throwaway culture that regards the well-being of the elderly, the unemployed, the disabled and the unborn as peripheral to our own well-being.
To come out of this crisis better, we have to recover the knowledge that as a people we have a shared destination. The pandemic has reminded us that no one is saved alone. What ties us to one another is what we commonly call solidarity. Solidarity is more than acts of generosity, important as they are; it is the call to embrace the reality that we are bound by bonds of reciprocity. On this solid foundation we can build a better, different, human future.
Pope Francis
Prayer
May we not miss what there is to learn from this pandemic experience.
Action
What does it mean to you to dare to create something new? Are you willing to try? Has the pandemic experience given you any new insights? What changes in your thinking and actions will it require? With whom can you share this new thing?
Suggested Reading
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
Corinthians 4:16
I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.
Georg C. Lichtenberg
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
John F. Kennedy
You never change the existing reality by fighting it. Instead, create a new model that makes the old one obsolete.
R. Buckminster Fuller
There needs to be a shift in consciousness; there needs to be an absolute wake-up call before society can actually make the kind of incredibly significant changes that need to happen.
Annie Lennox
Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.
Pauline R. Kezer
You really can change the world if you care enough.
Marian Wright Edelman
When you come to the fork in your life path, stop, take in the landscape and check in with your heart. Take the path with heart.
Lynne Namka