A young hobbit once lamented to his wizard friend, "I wish none of this had happened." The wise wizard responded, "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us" (JRR Tolkien).
I am not unaware that many lives have been much more terribly disrupted than mine has been by the pandemic now afflicting our world. I am not unaware that there is much anxiety, much fear, much suffering, and much death.
But we all have a choice of how to respond to what is happening around us and to us and to our world.
On Friday Pope Francis asked us to consider why we are afraid. He reminded us that the Lord is "calling on us to seize this time of trial as a time of choosing ... a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to [the Lord] and to others."
So, friends, what are you doing with the time that is given to you?
