You know these COVID restrictions are tough on all of us. Thank you to each of you who are obeying the rules and regulations. It’s rough. But I especially feel bad for you high-schoolers, because you are not having the usual kind of high school experience that was intended. Oh, your teachers and administration are doing a great job at trying to make things as normal as possible, but as we all realize . . . this is just a weird time.
I taught at Cathedral High School for eight years. I loved it. I taught religion to seniors. And when I look back at the yearbooks [present a yearbook] I realize that the best pictures in the yearbook, or the real highlights . . . were not the awards, the crownings, the achievements . . . but the day-to-day ordinary pictures of school life.
Just look at the pictures on your phone. Most often they are of ordinary events. Back when I was growing up, pictures rarely showed everyday events but instead with film, people often only took a picture of an achievement or big event.
Many times we focus on the highlights and conclude that’s what makes us who we are. But it’s not. If you look at the apostles Creed (on the slips handed out), you see how it mentions that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary then goes on to talk about his suffering under Pontius Pilate. Those are important events, but between them is only a comma. It’s as if Jesus’ life gets reduced to a comma. That is, all of his words, his works, his everyday living and experiences are just a comma.
The richness of Jesus is NOT simply his birth and death, but all the things in between. His teaching, his works, his interaction with people . . . but even the little things that are implied and not specifically stated.
In the gospel, neither groups - the sheep or the goats - knew that God was before them in ordinary ways. But the sheep group did the right thing, not it impress God, not to get an award and maybe a picture in the yearbook, but just because it was the right thing to do.
Well, all of us . . . whether we are still in school or not, whether we have lots of contact with others or not, whether we are confined to home or . . . we can still do the right thing.
For example:
Look for ways to make others laugh
Write a letter - with a pen
Donate blood
Give food to the food shelf or Passing the Bread
Put a surprise on your neighbors front porch
Help set up a technology for someone who can’t leave home.
Call someone you haven’t talked to in over a month
Share information responsibly on Social Media
Practice patience
Strive for the three balancers: good sleep, good exercise, good prayer
Many of you are feeling in a rut because of COVID. I understand. But this COVID stuff is serious, especially with more and more people around getting infected. But remember the only difference between and rut and a grave is the depth.