CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

Dear All,

I hope you’re all keeping well and safe. We are experiencing a challenging period in our Christian lives. What is happening now is an unexpected shock to communities, the nation, the world and it probably just sinking in to us.

The current feeling now is that it is still worsening, a crisis that shatters our assumptions that our world is generally safe, that we are secure in our homes, in our work and we are in control of our lives. The sudden loss of these assumptions, the feeling of being helpless and vulnerable are all the things we may be feeling right now.

It is normal to feel like this, worried, exhausted and afraid. However, we must not let this crisis defeat us. We must keep ourselves busy, caring and supporting each other where possible and most especially praying for each other and for a quick end to this crisis.

I know some of you have been doing everything you can do to help others in the community mostly by telephone and doing shopping. We can care for one another lovingly this way because of self-isolation. Helping our neighbours and those who are vulnerable. We can also help by continuing to donate to the Food Bank.

Please continue to do your best and share good news with each other. This will help to lift our spirits. It is times like these when we realise how small and powerless we are  and how much we depend on God’s grace and protection. We are still in the Lent season, but many of us may not even be thinking anymore about this right now. Yet, Lent is about loving and being loved. It is a time to think and pray about how we engage in conversation with others about our encounters with Jesus Christ and especially the experience of his forgiveness, love and mercy. We need to be closer to Him now more than ever.

Let us do the things we have been doing in the Church but with greater confidence in our community, knowing that these are not our good works, but God's... And that, what we proclaim in words and action is not ourselves, but Christ’s Jesus as Lord, with us serving the community in His name.

I am doing 'Daily Prayers' every day with all of you in my heart and I will celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday and Wednesday at home where I will mention your names. Please pray for me too.

Jesus, our companion, when we are driven to despair, helps us, through the friends and strangers we encounter on our path, to know you as our refuge, our way, our truth and our life. Amen.

Rev Olasupo Ogunyinka

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