ST PAUL'S TIMELY ADVICE

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Three days a week I teach my New Testament class via Google Meeting. It's been going fairly well. I often have on the screen the live images of all twelve sophomores at once, so I can monitor who's dozing off, or who's sneaked away.

At the end of class yesterday I spent a couple of minutes asking them  how they're doing, and what they do to pass the time. (Video games, sleeping and eating, in case you're wondering.) I feel really sorry for these teenagers who need to be outside getting exercise and blowing off steam. As I listened to them I realized how really hard it must be for them and for the members of their families to stay out of one another's way.

After class was over, I found in my mailbox a letter from a friend who mentioned that she's taking advantage of this period of being shut-in to spend more time with her husband. In an ordinary week their work schedules keep them from seeing much of one another. I found that a very uplifting little  thought, realizing that she and her husband have decided to profit from this awful crisis to grow in their love for eachother.

Then, at Vigils this morning (on the feast of St. Mark -- happy feast day, Br. Mark!) we heard the following words of encouragement addressed to the Christians of Ephesus. I think they're valuable for us to hear during these days:

I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:1-ff).

This turns out to be a very good list of things to do to make Christ present in your home by the way you treat one another:

humility
gentleness
patience
bearing with one another through love
striving to preserve the bond of peace.

Maybe you can work on one of these this week, and even invite someone else to join you in making the risen Lord present in your home despite the closed doors.

Stay well!