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September 25, 2020
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September 25, 2020
God has not “gone to sleep”, nor are His eyes off of faithful amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And we can deduce if Jesus is taking His good ole time, is because He don’t really love us, but that’s not the logic the text gives us,” Archbishop Jason Gordon asserted.
In his opening remarks, Archbishop Gordon explained that it is when God loves us, “bad bad bad” He takes His time.
“The old people say ‘He might put pajamas [on] but He don’t sleep’. That ‘He might be looking like He’s about to but He’s not really sleeping….’.”
He observed there were many persons questioning, why God is “waiting” while so many persons are being afflicted by the pandemic.
Archbishop Gordon maintained there are many ways in which the glory of God is being revealed through the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is for a “healing” to take place.
He commented that the earth has managed to “heal” and wildlife that was once “removed” is now returning.
“ There was an owl sitting on a railing in the [Queen’s Park] Savannah opposite my house for the longest while. I’ve never seen an owl around here before that,” the Archbishop said.
He added that the pandemic has also caused persons to “turn” to God and reconnect with family.
The necessity of the pause
According to the Archbishop, the pause is for a cause and in the pause, one may see something “quite amazing”.
“But what we will definitely see is the glory of God being achieved,” he said.
Archbishop Gordon said the pause can be sped up by getting into the mind, heart and desire of Jesus. The more this is done, the shorter the pause will need to be because the work of the pandemic will be brought about much quicker, the Archbishop said.
He observed that sometimes prayer is said for Jesus to change His mind, and to answer immediately. God may be given orders and treated like a slave, the Archbishop said.
He observed, “We act not only for the glory of God to be seen most times. We act sometimes for our own glory to be seen. Sometimes for us to satisfy our own curiosity. Sometimes we act out of a sense of impulse or out of a sense of trauma, but Jesus is not acting out of any of these. He has a different centre from which He is acting.” .
He explained that the value of a night of prayer is to shift one’s desire to Jesus’ desire.
He commented that the microbe has caused the world to stop when the world did not want to listen to anyone else.
“Politicians, presidents, business leaders, ecological leaders, people who have spoken about the crisis of the planet have been speaking loudly and clearly but the world refused to stop,” he said.
He invited persons to identify: Is there a purpose in this time that God has for us?
The Archbishop ended his talk affirming that this pandemic will not end in death.
There is a plan at work and God is doing something in it.
“And it’s for you and me to discover that something,” he said.
Wednesday’s all-night vigil continued with Holy Mass at 8.30 p.m. celebrated by Fr Kwesi Alleyne. Benediction and Closing Mass by Fr Lindsay John followed on Thursday.
Kaelanne Jordan
Email: mediarelations.camsel@catholictt.org
Twitter: @kaelanne1
