Did you read today’s readings? The Church places these words on our lips: “The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.” From psalm 33, it is the responsorial psalm designated by liturgical providence for today.
As we all continue to watch the coronavirus make its rapid course over the continents, “The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.” As we monitor from our homes the health of our loved ones suffering with the virus, “The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.” As the number of family and friends whose livelihoods are hanging in the balance grows, “The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.” We tend to grimace at the Pollyanna types who inflict an unrealistically positive gleam onto every situation, but the Church is no Pollyanna. The Church is infinitely realistic, because the Church sees multi-dimensionally. She sees the suffering, and she also sees the charity that suffering draws forth from us; she sees the far reach of the virus and new- found solidarity awakened in humanity; she sees the material hardship, and she also sees the re-emergence of priorities. The Church sees time through the lens of eternity and therefore she has us sing, “The earth is filled with the goodness of the Lord.”
Mother Clare, CFR