In this week when Jews celebrate Passover and Easter Christians, it is in confinement, locked up voluntarily, that we will celebrate the coming out of Egypt, the coming out of slavery and the coming out of the tomb, the victorious crossing of death.
The pandemic has forced us, for lack of treatment and effective means of prevention, to lock ourselves up, each one of us at home, in the family, alone, in an institution or in other places.
Half of humanity is thus immobilized, paralyzed by a virus that is invisible and can be fatal for the most fragile.
This life in confinement also places us before our limits. The coronavirus more or less brutally reminds us of the fragility of the human being, our mortal condition, which we often tend to forget. This unexpected situation upsets our habits, our comforts, our practices and sometimes generates fears and anxieties. It can reinforce violent behaviour in couples, families or between neighbours. It also allows the development of solidarity and generosity. It highlights the essential role of those who take care of others, first and foremost that of the carers in hospitals.
This confinement leads to an economic crisis, the extent of which is still difficult to assess. There are also threats to individual and public freedoms and sometimes to democracy.
We feel that our humanity is facing a new challenge. At a time when there is a tendency to close doors and borders, because of indispensable health measures, we are experiencing that humanity forms one body and that we are also inseparable from Creation, our planet earth, the living world to which we belong, the plant world and the animal world.
What will the day after be like? We want it to be more fraternal, more responsible, more respectful of the planet. We feel that the scale of values is to be reviewed. Economic growth in the face of competition and the depletion of resources, the endless arms race must give way to concern for the universal common good, to the protection of the environment throughout the planet, to what gives dignity and meaning to human life, to the reduction of the inequalities, sometimes abyssal, which separate the inhabitants of our common home. Non-violence carries these convictions within it and presents itself as the only path for humanity.
In this time of Easter and confinement, we believe that the prayers and efforts of one another are not in vain. Together, we will overcome this epidemic. The Eternal God, the author of life, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, accompanies us on our journey towards Easter and gives us the strength to fight all evil, whatever its origin, nature and form.
Together with the Apostle Paul, we affirm, in union with all the bereaved families, in faith in the risen Christ: « I am sure that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God manifested in Christ Jesus our Lord » (Epistle to the Romans chap. 8, verses 38-39).
National Committee
Easter 2020
