Rev. James Martin, S.J.
January 27, 2022
Everyone is sick of the pandemic and tired of hearing about Covid. When I turn on the radio in the morning to NPR (which I now think of as National Pandemic Radio) the first word that I hear is always “Covid,” “coronavirus” or “pandemic.” It is hard to escape. So I am going to keep this short.
I am also not going to try to sugarcoat anything or talk too much about “silver linings.” The pandemic is a terrible reality that we must all face, and one that does not seem to be going away any time soon. It is by turns frightening, maddening, annoying, depressing and angering. In addition to the obvious health challenges it poses—especially to the immunocompromised and to frontline workers—it is emotionally brutal.
But it is not hopeless. I have found in my own life, and in counseling others, a few tips drawn from Christian spirituality that have helped me avoid despair. Here are five.
1. Be smart.
The most important tip may not sound especially spiritual, but it is: Get vaccinated and boosted if you are able to. Wear a mask. Maintain social distances when you need to. Avoid large indoor gatherings especially when there are spikes, and if you are infected with Covid-19, by all means stay home.
As I said, this sounds like practical advice, but at heart it is spiritual advice. (Spiritual and practical usually go hand in hand.) It is not only about caring for yourself and your own health, but also about caring for others. It’s about reverencing them. As Pope Francis has said, getting vaccinated is an “act of love.” To be blunter than the pope: Life is not just about you. We have to begin with this tip, because it will help you (and others) survive.
Caring for yourself also may mean speaking with a therapist, a spiritual director or a trusted friend to help you navigate your way through the pandemic. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. People do it in the Gospels all the time.
2. Be hopeful.
St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, often talked about the “good spirit” and the “evil spirit,” which we can define broadly as the impulses that move us toward God, and those that move us away from God. And for those trying to lead good lives, says St. Ignatius, the good spirit will encourage us, console us and uplift us. The spirit that is not coming from God, by contrast, will cast us down, discourage us and cause “gnawing anxiety.” (Is there a better phrase for what we have all been feeling during the last two years?)
3. Be loving.
Over the last two years, I have been quarantined several times in my Jesuit community, as a result of some Covid-positive community members. It is not a surprise in a house of 12 men! So I have often felt, like many people, powerless to help others. But there is always something we can do to help lighten someone’s emotional load, if not their viral load.
4. Be monastic.
Every day I wake up and, since I’m no longer going into the office, I look at the same four walls in my relatively small room. And the view out my window is not any great shakes either. My window looks onto an alleyway and the brick-faced sides of several buildings. I can see about three inches of sky. And of course I’m not traveling anywhere these days, like most people. Early on, I said to a therapist, “Am I going to go crazy if I never leave New York City?” She laughed and said, “You won’t even go crazy if you never leave your room.”
5. Be prayerful.
At the very beginning of the pandemic, an elderly Jesuit in our community said to us during his homily, “Well, we’re always hoping for more time to pray, and now we’ve got it!” I know that this reality is far different for some people—say, families with young children, where many parents feel that they have less time and a more constricted space, with the kids at home.
You can handle this. You will get through it. God is with you. See you on the other side of all this.