Reflection: Living through a Pandemic

WCIU Journal: Health and Disease Topic

January 5, 2021

by Thu Ha Chow, WCIU student

As this momentous year comes to a close, I cannot help but reflect on how a virus with such a small beginning could cause so much suffering and devastation. Its path is altering the lives of every human being on this planet. It is a reminder that we should not overlook the evil which we fight, and yet we must also see that where evil prevails, grace is even greater.

Humankind, despite its fallen nature, has clearly been given the authority and power to overcome evil. With our intellect and creativity, when properly harnessed, we will overcome this virus. Yet how rapidly this happens will be contingent on how we treat our neighbors. This pandemic is a reminder that we are all intricately linked together, that what afflicts our brothers will affect us.

It is all too easy to ignore the ills of unknown faces but now we fight something that afflicts us all, if not through direct illness, by social and economic consequences. Yet the weak and marginalized suffer disproportionately more. This pandemic has exposed our shared humanity but also the flaws of our society. How societies will be judged will be based on what our Lord Jesus has already outlined in Matthew 25: 40  “The kng will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

May we use this opportunity to build a society that will stand up to this test.