Deepening Our Personal Relationship with Jesus Amidst Covid-19 | Kairos Global | November 2020

Author: Dr. Sunny George

Intro: Even in the midst of sufferings we can be people of hope if we believe in God’s promises. Dr. Sunny George shares his spiritual journey during this crisis and the lessons learnt from it.

During this time of extraordinary disruption and anxiety, the Covid-19 pandemic challenges us to deepen our personal relationship with Jesus. It is transforming the lives of millions of people in an unimaginable way. So rapid have the changes been that most of the world’s population have been caught off guard. The impact of the corona virus can never be described as something experienced before. The world has stood breathless before this invisible enemy, deadly, and heedless of borders. Truly we are experiencing a pandemic that has shattered many of the things we humans hold dear – family, culture, economy, borders, and political systems. We do not know when the pandemic will end and when normal life being. 

And yet even in the midst of crises and sufferings we are full of hope and believe in God’s promises. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. (John 12:24). Being an ardent devotee of St Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, I’ve thought of this verse frequently during the lockdown period. My heart ached because the Church could not gather to celebrate liturgy during the Holy Week and the sacred Easter Triduum. I prayed that God would show me a way, to partake in His cup of suffering. I sought the help of the Blessed Mother, Lady of the Eucharist, to enter into the sorrow of the groom whose bride is suddenly taken away from him. This was a great pain that I still experience in the stillness of my heart. 

With the closure of churches in mid-March 2020, I was certain that my life was going to be less characterised by Daily Mass, and more characterised by the prayers offered at home. I was blessed to have a deep love for the Lord’s presence and His very life which is shared with us through the Eucharist. I love the Eucharist and have given my life for this ineffable gift. I found myself upset because I felt I was deprived of God’s help at the time when it was much needed. I was deprived of the Body and Blood of Christ for fifty-five days. The greatest consolation during those days of separation from sacramental graces was the conviction that God’s grace was all the more available because of this situation. I was reluctant to participate in the online Masses. Instead I spent time in silence pondering the past Masses I had celebrated in various churches across the globe and offering countless number of Rosaries. I had started loving the Rosary when I heard a message of Our Lady of Medjugorje, ‘Pray, until prayer becomes a joy for you,’ several years ago.  I received frequent spiritual communion using the prayer dictated by Jesus Himself through a source of private revelation. My dear Jesus, miraculously present in the Holy Eucharist, unite my heart to Your Eucharistic Heart. In this most precious moment, when You are physically present in my heart, bring me into union with Divine Love, and hold me there always. Amen.  

Sacraments are the greatest gifts God has given us because they bring us God’s infinite graces. Graces are the very life of God that is shared with us. Many of the sacraments are continual sources of grace for us to draw upon, not simply moments when we receive grace and then move on. Through Baptism, the Holy Trinity dwells in us. This indwelling of the Holy Trinity is a continual fount of grace, life giving water. The same is true with the sacrament of Confirmation which gives us strength to witness to the faith, if we live a life of grace. This is also true with the sacrament of Matrimony, which forms an unbreakable sacramental bond of love within the couple and can be a continual source of grace for them to learn to love as Christ loved the Church. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it clear, ‘God himself is not bound by the sacraments’ (CCC 1257). God can give graces through a variety of ways such as personal prayer, scripture reading, acts of sacrificial love for Him, almsgiving, corporal and spiritual works of mercy. When we exercise our faith, we receive graces through our ‘yes’ to Him. 

A strong relationship with the communion of saints also helped me a lot to accept the reality of the present situation. As Saint Augustine exclaims on the Eucharist, ‘Although God is all-powerful, He is unable to give more; though supremely wise, He knows not how to give more; though vastly rich, He has not more to give.’ With the Eucharist, God has truly given us everything. The universal brotherhood with one another lies in the truth that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the Bread of Life produced from Mary with the flour of Her Immaculate flesh and kneaded with Her virginal milk. The Angelic Doctor, St Thomas Aquinas puts in a beautiful way, ‘the Flesh of Jesus is of the maternal flesh of Mary, the Blood of Jesus is of the maternal blood of Mary. Therefore, it will never be possible to separate Jesus from Mary.’ They are always united; their Hearts are United! 

An instruction which helps me to love the Eucharist is from St Augustine. He challenges, ‘when we get up in the morning, run to the Tabernacle. Every step one takes while travelling to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass is counted by an angel. One will be given a high reward for them by God in this life and in eternity.’ Saint John Mary Vianney adds, ‘how happy is that guardian angel who accompanies a soul to Holy Mass!’ As human beings, we long for companionship and great friendships. Angels also long for companionship. Because our guardian angels are always with us, helping, encouraging us to do good, they can meet their friends when we go to the church for Mass. All the heavenly choirs are present in the church when the Mass is celebrated. So our guardian angels will have a good time with their friends from heaven! 

I am reminded of my late dearly beloved mother’s reaction, ‘when something bad happens to you, look forward to the glory of God that is coming.’ The pandemic also taught many lessons:

Life is fragile, handle with prayer

Simple prayers of proven value and powerful means of growing in spiritual depth are at the heart of Catholic devotions. The Rosary of the Blessed Mother has a long history of growing in personal holiness, thereby being led deep into Divine Love. Prayer is the only way to connect to God, and this time of distancing one’s self from people and events gives us an opportunity to focus more on God.

We have a common identity

Crises and diseases do not differentiate between people and affect everyone equally. Although we try to distinguish economic, social or cultural differences, Covid-19 reminds us that we all can get sick and we all are interconnected. We all are important and heaven needs each one of us. It is consoling to understand that the speed of the virus can only be stopped with the fraternal cooperation of all. 

Every human life is precious

All human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). The image of God is His unique characteristic – love; and likeness of God is His sacrifice of giving Himself entirely to us! 

God is the giver of life

From the first moment of conception unto natural death, we must protect and value everyone’s life. Human life is priceless and we must fight at all costs to care for the lives of all. 

Emmanuel – God is with us!

Our problems may sound big or small and the consequences seem impossible to bear. God is the only source of true security and we can trust in Him. Nothing happens in our life without the knowledge of God. He cares for us and He is always with us as a loving father!

Learn silence, so that we will be vigilant

The greatest practitioner of silence is the Blessed Mother. With Her holy silence, She conveyed everything. ‘Do whatever He tells you,’ is the only instruction She gives to Her children. If we learn the virtue of silence, we will be vigilant.

Dr. Sunny George is the Founder-CEO of two startup companies focused on sustainable agriculture. He travels extensively to propagate organic farming and as a pilgrim to Marian apparition sites across the globe. His lives in Kanjirapally with wife Mini and their four children.