Archbishop's prayer: Take this covid19 away

Comparing human suffering caused by covid19 to the anguish of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, Archbishop Jason Gordon appealed to the population to surrender their fears about the virus and bend to the will of God.

In a virtual Palm Sunday mass, the first of its kind, Gordon told the Catholic faithful, "We are facing this covid virus and what are we saying is, Lord take this away from us." He continued, "Father, take this covid19 away from us. Take this suffering away from us."

Gordon observed there are people who are complaining about the hardships they are enduring because of the virus and things being done to curb its spread. He said just like Jesus' agony in the garden, it is "important that we go to the next sentence" in the scripture.

That next sentence, Gordon continued, is "not my will but Your will be done." He explained, "We have to reach that sentence because in that next sentence, we start to understand the truth of the message of salvation."

Gordon asked citizens, "Are you bending to the will of God or are you seeking to bend your will to God's will?" He opined it was not enough just to wish for covid19 to go away. "We don't understand the nature of obedience. We think that obedience is servitude. Some rebel against the nature of obedience."

Gordon added, "Obedience is at the very core and centre of spiritual life. We cannot be disciples without obedience to God." Describing Holy Week as a period in the Catholic calendar that was sandwiched between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, Gordon urged citizens, "Let us in this week become a humbler people. Let us empty ourselves."

Recalling a visit he made to a gang leader's home in Gonzales, Belont when he was a priest in that community, Gordon said that person was in tears as he watched the Passion of Christ. He said the gang leader asked "Father, he (Jesus) did all of this for we?"

Through that experience, Gordon said the gang leader and other people understood that the suffering which Jesus endured was not just the physical suffering of a man. "The mystery of the suffering we are looking at is not the mystery of the suffering that a man has endured. It is suffering that God has endured for your sake and for my sake."

The virtual mass was the first of its kind due to public health regulations in place to prevent the spread of covid19. One of the regulations forbids religious gatherings that exceed more than five people. This and certain other activities are banned from April 3 to 30. There were no physical masses in any Roman Catholic Church on Sunday.