The Christian Soul before the Coronavirus: Part 1 - Introduction

What is the posture of a Christian before the phenomenon of the Coronavirus? The first of the now 240,000+ cases in the United States occurred in early January. In the Heart of each Christian there are multiple postures that we can possess before a phenomenon such as the one we are suffering together as a society today. The Coronavirus Responses Coordinator, Dr. Birx, has announced that an unmitigated response (or no response at all) to the Coronavirus would allow for 1-2 Million people to die in the United States alone. To bring to scale the calamity of the event it would be another civilian meltdown in a conflict such as Korea or Vietnam (2.7 Million and 2 Million civilian deaths respectively) not to count the many healthcare providers who will be suffering from this event as well. 

In the face of this Evil how can we not return to our "Roots" as Pope Francis suggested in his Urbi et Orbi ("To the City and to the World") Blessing which he carried out on 27 March? Those Roots are the spiritual foundations on which our Faith are built, namely, the Grace to encounter such tragedy and to face it head on knowing that we cannot overcome it merely through human "mitigation" or even through the "behavior" or "behaviors" that have been outlined by the many brilliant experts that have spoken to us through our social media outlets but through Spiritual Combat as suggested by the spiritual masters that have preceded us and taught us how to live in times such as these. While acknowledging the Human actions to correct this calamity and before acknowledging these Human actions is to acknowledge the actions of the Divine. Why is this happening? What is my attitude before these facts? What Lessons am I capable of learning from these facts? For the above to occur Grace alone is the answer to how we can face the Evil that has beset us and Grace alone is what a Christian depends on for his or her heart's posture before this Pandemic.

I believe that to contemplate this season of tragedy in our lives we must ask ourselves a few questions: 

1) What are the Sources of Evil, in particular that of a natural tragedy? Who's Fault is it anyway? 

2) What are the Postures of a Christian before Evil? In particular that evil which is natural? 

3) What Lessons can we learn from the Evil before us? 

4) What Actions can a Christian take before the Evil ahead of us? How can we be fearless Apostles in a boat that seems to be sinking? 

Before the above questions can be asked I believe we need to understand what we mean by "Grace". The Baltimore Catechism in its succinct and irreproachable manner answers: 

"By grace I mean a supernatural gift of God bestowed on us, through the merits of Jesus Christ, for our salvation." (Q. 456) 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church goes deeper: 

"Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church." (CCC 1997)

In the simplest terms Grace is not natural nor is it artificial. It is the door and the threshold by which we encounter the Divine. It is supernatural and free. Our willingness is unnecessary but our willingness opens us up to the participation in God's Life so much so that the Greek Fathers of the Church considered the life of Grace a form of "Deification" or better put "Divinization" (apotheosis) (see here for more on Divinization). The Life of Grace is the absolute response to how to understand the "Signs of the Times" in which we live and also how to live through the "Signs of the Times" which today seem ominous. 

To be continued.