Thanks to all who shared philosophical and spiritual reflections on Covid-19. I am going to share how Covid-19 has affected my life and ministry.
Disappointments:
Schedule changes: I was asked not to come for Mass to Anna’s Nursing Home and was unable to continue a Bible class in a Seoul parish.
Visits to parishes to request opportunities for Mission Appeals had to stop, and there seems to be no possibility of such Masses for the rest of the year or even further in the future.
And there were no meetings and events allowed to be held in our Mission Center.
Schedule changes: I was asked not to come for Mass to Anna’s Nursing Home and was unable to continue a Bible class in a Seoul parish.
Visits to parishes to request opportunities for Mission Appeals had to stop, and there seems to be no possibility of such Masses for the rest of the year or even further in the future.
And there were no meetings and events allowed to be held in our Mission Center.
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Uncertainties:
Our February Retrouvaille Weekend Post program hosted over six Sundays, in the Mission Center, was cancelled indefinitely. We haven’t been able to meet any of the participants since the weekend was held. But we are keeping in contact by giving them weekly homework and talking over the phone. We had to postpone our June weekend until July… hopefully we can do it then. |
Frustrations:
Our Addiction meetings had to be held in local cafes.
Each year, I look forward to having our own Stations of the Cross, Paschal Fire and part of the Easter Vigil outside in our Centre House’s garden. This year however, we had to hold the Holy Week ceremonies in our 5th floor Chapel, with no outsiders in attendance.
Double Disappointment:
In September last year, I got a request from a choir and group of traditional musicians from Nenagh, Tipperary, asking for help in arranging a schedule for a 10-day visit to Korea.
I arranged to have them come around St Patrick`s Day and join the Embassy and Irish Youth Celebrations, with an opportunity to join a choir in two parishes in Seoul and a celebration in a parish in Chuncheon for its 100th anniversary and 50th anniversary of Bishop Quinlan’s death. We had to postpone the visit until October, but that too is unlikely to happen now.
Our Addiction meetings had to be held in local cafes.
Each year, I look forward to having our own Stations of the Cross, Paschal Fire and part of the Easter Vigil outside in our Centre House’s garden. This year however, we had to hold the Holy Week ceremonies in our 5th floor Chapel, with no outsiders in attendance.
Double Disappointment:
In September last year, I got a request from a choir and group of traditional musicians from Nenagh, Tipperary, asking for help in arranging a schedule for a 10-day visit to Korea.
I arranged to have them come around St Patrick`s Day and join the Embassy and Irish Youth Celebrations, with an opportunity to join a choir in two parishes in Seoul and a celebration in a parish in Chuncheon for its 100th anniversary and 50th anniversary of Bishop Quinlan’s death. We had to postpone the visit until October, but that too is unlikely to happen now.
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On a more personal note: I was supposed to say my farewell to Korea on 28 March, having been appointed to the Irish Region; however, my air ticket with Finnair in hand since February, I got news that all flights had been cancelled until July… so life was put on hold! |
"I pray, hope, and trust that Covid-19 time will bring new life in its own way for me, God willing!"
What does one do with free time?
For over twenty years or more, people have been telling me to have a cartilage operation on my right knee… so using the gifted time given me by God, or fate, I decided to have the job done.
Instead of celebrating my ordination anniversary on Easter Sunday, I booked into the hospital by 4pm, no evening meal as I needed to be ready for surgery early Easter Monday. The surgery went well but I’ve had a little set back in recovery. Thankfully, it seems to be OK again. Hopefully, I`ll be ready to go home in July, but, if not, since Covid-19 has changed so much of my life, why not be open to more change? In AA we say, “Let go, let God”, “Hand it over and live One Day at a time.”
I`m using my free time to write articles I’ve postponed for years, finish others I had started and do some postponed reading.
I can say that I accept God`s time… easy in my head, but not so easy other days. I’ve had experiences of having to trust God like this before: when I went to Guest House in the U,S in March 92, I was scheduled to be back in Korea by September the same year, I eventually got back in September 2005.
And another time, when they applied for a Religious Working Visa for me in the US in March 94, it was supposed to come out in July or August – my two companions got theirs in July but no word on mine.
However, when I complained in September to the US Embassy in Dublin, I was told that I was getting a Green Card, for permanent work in the U.S. even though nobody had requested it. I received it in March 95 and during my time waiting in Ireland I was able to write all my presentation talks for the Retrouvaille weekend program as well as visit schools in Ireland. As it worked out, my thirteen unplanned years in Chicago were some of the most fruitful years of my life. I pray, hope, and trust that Covid-19 time will bring new life in its own way for me, God willing!
For over twenty years or more, people have been telling me to have a cartilage operation on my right knee… so using the gifted time given me by God, or fate, I decided to have the job done.
Instead of celebrating my ordination anniversary on Easter Sunday, I booked into the hospital by 4pm, no evening meal as I needed to be ready for surgery early Easter Monday. The surgery went well but I’ve had a little set back in recovery. Thankfully, it seems to be OK again. Hopefully, I`ll be ready to go home in July, but, if not, since Covid-19 has changed so much of my life, why not be open to more change? In AA we say, “Let go, let God”, “Hand it over and live One Day at a time.”
I`m using my free time to write articles I’ve postponed for years, finish others I had started and do some postponed reading.
I can say that I accept God`s time… easy in my head, but not so easy other days. I’ve had experiences of having to trust God like this before: when I went to Guest House in the U,S in March 92, I was scheduled to be back in Korea by September the same year, I eventually got back in September 2005.
And another time, when they applied for a Religious Working Visa for me in the US in March 94, it was supposed to come out in July or August – my two companions got theirs in July but no word on mine.
However, when I complained in September to the US Embassy in Dublin, I was told that I was getting a Green Card, for permanent work in the U.S. even though nobody had requested it. I received it in March 95 and during my time waiting in Ireland I was able to write all my presentation talks for the Retrouvaille weekend program as well as visit schools in Ireland. As it worked out, my thirteen unplanned years in Chicago were some of the most fruitful years of my life. I pray, hope, and trust that Covid-19 time will bring new life in its own way for me, God willing!