Bishop’s message concerning COVID-19

I trust everyone is doing well.

Let me begin by saying I am impressed with the ways in which people have responded so far to the restrictions we face due to COVID19.

Here in Fredericton on Saturday evening we were asked to make a noise to thank the essential services for their work during this time. Debbie was presented with a schoolyard bell when she retired from teaching, so we stood on the front porch and rang it. There was a great deal of noise in our area.

I have also been witness, on two occasions, to something I have never seen before — drive-by birthdays. Cars pass people’s homes with banners saying happy birthday and drop gifts on the sidewalk.

It is good to see such creativity to make sure that children do not miss out.

That being said, for many of us it is not easy as we enter into the fourth week of being at home. I am not going to come up with any slick ideas about how we deal with the situation.

For those of us who are finding it hard, my words will probably not be very helpful.

I have written about four times now that this is the most unusual of Holy Weeks. For me it means less rush than usual and more time to reflect on the stories which make up Jesus’ last week. His teaching. The encounters he has in the Temple. The Last Supper and on into the Passion.

Again, I recognize that for me that pandemic is relatively easy. There are two of us in the house, and we can talk to each other. There are no unsettled or anxious children wanting our attention.

This time to reflect has made me ask if there is a need to re-orient after the restrictions are lifted. Can I/we easily slip back into the way things were? Will something have shifted at a deep level in all of us?

Please be assured that I am praying for you every day, praying that God will come close to us, and praying that he might change me. I ask for your prayers.