Bringing the light of Christ to the night of Wuhan
Credit to Author: Ricardo Saludo| Date: Sat, 08 Feb 2020 18:09:48 +0000
Thus says the Lord: Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own. … If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted, then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.
– The Book of Isaiah, 58:7, 9-10
The passing of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and Wuhan novel coronavirus whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang, who first alerted Chinese authorities to the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD), have spurred widespread outpouring of grief and admiration.
Though worlds apart in location and vocation, the American sports idol and the Chinese physician both showed the greatness of the human spirit in striving and sacrificing for ideals, not just fame, fortune and fun.
Bryant’s annual visits to Manila inspired Filipino youth toward athletic excellence, just as African Americans sought to emulate his story of a high school kid, who was black, Catholic and raised abroad, climbing to the pinnacle of global sport.
Even his flaws and failings, from his rape case to his game injuries and intrigues, only made Bryant’s achievements and advocacies for sport and youth more inspiring.
Unlike Bryant, Dr. Li’s fame was neither lifelong nor officially cheered. His December online disclosure of the Wuhan infection was the only time the world knew of him and his integrity, professionalism, concern for public health and self-sacrifice.
Both that heroic whistleblowing and his death by the illness he exposed felt the heavy hand of government restriction, with the Wuhan authorities detaining him for supposedly spreading false rumors, and state censors delaying news of his demise till after most Chinese had dozed off.
Serving the Lord in the lowly
Providentially, however, official disapproval toward Dr. Li has spurred the world, especially netizens, to extol and share the life-giving sacrifice and courage of doctors, nurses and other medical workers battling nCoV at great risk to their health and lives.
And that message of serving the needy and uplifting the lowly is precisely what today’s Sunday Mass readings are about. The Prophet Isaiah, quoted above, urges acts of compassion and justice for the poor and oppressed. The Responsorial Psalm 112 declares that righteousness, justice and mercy bring light to the darkness.
The Apostle Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (2:1-5) speaks of imparting the Spirit and power of God, instead of mere human wisdom, to a fallen world caught in the darkness of sin.
And in the Gospel of St. Matthew (5:13-16), our Lord calls on his disciples to season and light the world with their faith, hope, love, and holiness: “You are the salt of the earth. … You are the light of the world. … Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
Calvary in Wuhan
Christ’s call rings loudest whenever disaster and distress strike, and hordes of victims in desperate need, if not life-threatening conditions must be succored at grave risk to those giving aid. For what is demanded is nothing less than laying down of one’s life for the salvation of the many, as Jesus did on Calvary.
We see such Christ-like sacrifice in the disease-ridden streets of Wuhan and other virus-infested cities in China. One online video recounts how countless medical personnel are risking death and taking on immense hardship to bring care and treatment to nCoV patients.
One picture gone viral shows a doctor kissing his wife goodbye, both tearful, before he goes to Wuhan, fearing the deadly illness. Other images depict personnel putting on hazard suits covering them from head to foot.
They need to write their names on the white protective garments so they can tell who’s who. Along with the names, they also write “Add oil” in Chinese, a common expression of encouragement.
To avoid having to remove the heavy, complicated suits during their daily hours of duty, medical staff also wear adult diapers. Plainly, Dr. Li’s heroism is being repeated by the hundreds of healers and caregivers braving the virus in locked-down cities.
The Gospel amid the germs
Along with diseased bodies, despondent souls are being ministered to. Amid the deathly contagion, Christians are preaching the Gospel messages of God’s love and salvation. As CBN News Asia reports, believers in afflicted cities are sharing the faith despite the threat not only of viral infection, but also official persecution.
In Wuhan, Christians are giving out face masks on the streets, telling people of Christ’s love and redemption. Encouraging sermons are also being broadcast on loudspeakers set up on apartment balconies. One believer biked to a pharmacy where he played a sermon on his portable speaker.
What would Christians tell the ill and the dying? One Wuhan pastor prays, translated by Chinese Church Sources (www.chinasource.org): “The situation is so critical, yet [we are] trusting in the Lord’s promises, that his thoughts toward us are of peace, and not evil (Jeremiah 29:110, and that he allows a time of testing, not to destroy us, but to establish us.”
The pastor declares further: “Christ has already given us his peace, but his peace is not to remove us from disaster and death, but rather to have peace in the midst of disaster and death, because Christ has already overcome these things (John, 14:27), 16:33).
Otherwise, we have not believed in the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15), and, with the world, would be terrified of pestilence, and lose hope in the face of death.”
Perhaps just as crucial as care and treatment, the desperate ill in Wuhan and other virus-ridden zones need more than ever the hope that there is a future after death, where the deceased shall meet the God Who Himself suffered and died that we may all have eternal life. Amen.