In many countries, restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic have also put a stop to all forms of religious gatherings for worship and prayer. However, believers’ desire to spend time with God has not diminished. What can we do? This reflection by Chiara Lubich offers an innovative solution. “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). … Jesus said these words to the disciples … (but) he was also thinking of all of us who, day after day, are living somewhat complex lives. Given that Jesus is Love incarnate, he might have thought: I’d like to be with them always, to share all their worries and give them advice; I’d like to walk down their streets with them, enter their homes and rekindle their joy with my presence. That is why he wanted to stay with us so that we can feel his nearness, his strength and his love. … If we live out what he commands, especially his new commandment, we can experience his presence even outside the walls of our churches, in the midst of a crowd, wherever there is this living presence of his, everywhere. What is asked of us is mutual love, which is made up of service and understanding, of sharing in the sufferings, anxieties and joys of our brothers and sisters. This love endures everything, forgives everything and is typical of Christianity. Let’s live like this so that everyone may have the opportunity to meet him already on this earth.

                                                                                              Chiara Lubich

Taken from the Word of Life for May 2002