The New Normal?

It has been practically a year since we were confronted with the global health crisis which has sent shock waves throughout the world.

Whether we know it or not, everyone and everything is just a little bit different, if not a lot different. It is good for us to assess exactly how our lives have changed, for better or for worse.

Initially, many of us were held in disbelief as to the significance and the seriousness of such a pandemic. Many questions arose. In fact, many questions continue to rise. Questioning such a challenge helps us to discern what can and what we must do in response. Thus, it is important for us to reflect as to how we have responded and, more important, what exactly is the meaning of such an event and experience.

Ultimately, it is good for us to ponder the impact this coronavirus has had on our lives and on the lives of others.

Certainly, our own everyday living has been altered. We cannot recreate or socialize the way we have been accustomed. This has maybe created somewhat of a void from which we find ourselves constrained and restricted. Our response maybe was one of feelings of isolation and feelings of loneliness.

Or too, we may have recognized now the opportunity to bring about a whole new set of interests including quality time with family. My guess is that our individual response was not an “either or” but rather, a “both and.” Nevertheless, it was and continues to be an adjustment for each and every one.

Too, our community life has changed. As human beings, we value getting together and being present to one another. Socializing with each other is indeed important, for it is our togetherness which lifts our spirits and assures us we are not alone. There is a strength which community offers and provides, a strength which tells us we can overcome the challenges of this pandemic together.

Unfortunately, however, this is a lot easier said than done. We were thus asked to creatively consider in what ways we could recapture community life, especially, in our outreach to the many forgotten members of our community who have no one.

In all of this there is a message to be appropriated, namely, God invites us to discover new ways to take care of ourselves and one another. Our need for God and our need for each other places us squarely in a position in which we come to realize we are nothing without God and we are nothing without community. God has a particular way of opening our minds and our hearts to His care.

Hopefully, this time next year we will have returned to a semblance of normalcy. We have yet to learn what “normal” will look like. Nevertheless, maybe we will have grown in wisdom and in understanding.

It is not who we are, but what we can be as God’s daughters and sons. God has much to tell us. Let us listen to His word to us and may we internalize it for the betterment of ourselves and of our community. Will this be the “new normal?” Let us patiently wait and see.

Fr. Mike McDermitt

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church