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Rosemary Bogdan reflects on human contact and lessons learned during the pandemic.


What a strange two years it’s been. I think it will be a long time before we have all fully recovered from the trauma of the pandemic. Loss of loved ones and friends, fear of contracting Covid, fear for loved ones, discomfort of masking, discomfort of not masking, fear of getting vaccinated, fear of not getting vaccinated. It all weighs heavily on all of us, whether it’s our fear or someone else’s affecting us.

The pandemic has made very clear how very closely knit we all are and how important it is for us to have contact with each other.

When the churches were shut down we were separated not only from each other but also from the Head of the Body of which we all are a part. We were separated from the physical Presence of Jesus—and how desolate that felt!

Recently my parish started including again the Sign of Peace for the first time since the shutdown. The family in front of me offered their hands. I shook each one. Was there a risk of transmitting Covid? Yes. For me, triple vaxed, it was entirely worth the risk. There was so much joy as we loved each other with our smiles. Once more we were connecting in a physical way with the people around us, those familiar faces, that family group, that individual.

There was the teen who had been at our house several years ago in an Alpha group. I had barely spoken with her since then. But as we locked eyes and shook hands our smiles and our eyes communicated that we have a connection, a shared memory of pleasant conversations and shared meals. The contact, eye and hand, reinforced that memory and reminded us of our connectedness.

 

handshake

 

These were the contacts, the peripheral friendships that were starved by the isolation of the pandemic. There were the people whose names you don’t know or have maybe forgotten. There were the people who were not in your inner circle of friends but with whom you still had a tenuous connection because of the occasional chat at coffee and donuts or the infrequent conversation about school events or friendships between children. There were no zoom calls to this circle.

But now, a handshake can renew that thread, the chuckle of reaching far over the pew to touch someone’s hand, those looks, those smiles can renew that old connection that reminds us that we are all one Body.

Click to tweet:
How much more do we now appreciate the simple little interactions with others that were absent for so long. The Lord is changing us. #catholicmom

Social science research has confirmed that people who are more socially connected are healthier and live longer than their more isolated peers. Social interaction has a very positive effect on mental health. May we never forget that God always wants what’s best for us.

It’s been a tough two years. But the words of Isaiah in today’s first reading can remind us of our hope.

See, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; The former things shall not be remembered nor come to mind. Instead, shout for joy and be glad forever in what I am creating. Indeed, I am creating Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. (Isaiah 65:17-18)

How much more do we now appreciate the simple little interactions with others that were absent for so long. The Lord is changing us.

The psalm response for today reminds us,

Sing praise to the Lord, you faithful; give thanks to his holy memory. For his anger lasts but a moment; his favor a lifetime. At dusk weeping comes for the night; but at dawn there is rejoicing. (Psalm 30)

 

In my state of Michigan, we are just coming out of Covid restrictions. There was weeping but now we see a new dawn.

As Blessed Solanus Casey used to say, “Blessed be God in all His designs.”

Yes, blessed be God in the pandemic. And blessed be God as we recover and see all things new.

 

friends greeting and hugging each other


Copyright 2022 Rosemary Bogdan
Images: Canva Pro