All will be well

Rome (Italy). In the midst of the suffering of Italy and the world due to the spread of the Coronavirus, the tears for the many deceased, the constant call to responsibility of everyone, the pressing invitation to ‘stay home’, the strong questions about the future, everywhere this phrase resounds: All will be well.

This is the phrase that tirelessly, these days, circulates outside hospitals, on gates, from balconies, on social networks, on children’s drawings, on the media.

Build community and mutual support and remember that you are not alone. The gratitude to doctors, nurses, and all those who are committed to stopping the coronavirus infection, involves and makes each person participate in their effort.

There are many notes and post-it’s that suddenly pop up and finally ‘contagion’ with a positive epidemic: we will make it, because God loves us.

It is the tangible sign of a virtual embrace, a gesture that means commitment, preparing something that becomes a message for another person we don’t know, but who will read it and feel encouraged, because “God is here, don’t be afraid” and it will pass, all will be well.

A warmth of ‘paper’ that is good for everyone and makes everyone feel more human. It is the awakening of a community dimension, made up of mutual support, sharing of solitude, silence, and required sacrifices, that demonstrate one is not alone, and which help to create co-responsibility, resilience, to ‘shake hands’ in order to resist without collapsing.

All will be well, are words that seem to have their roots in the richness of the Christian faith in Europe. Msgr. Mauro Maria Morfino, Bishop of Alghero in Sardinia (Italy) recalls: “The expression comes from the mystic Juliana of Norwich, an illiterate young woman who lived from 1342 to 1430 in England. In those difficult years for the Church, torn by the schism following the Pope’s return from Avignon to Rome, and due to the world devastated by the Hundred Years War between England and France, in those years when the black plague raged in Europe, the Lord entrusts Juliana with the words: “all will be well” and “all manner of things will be well.”

It is a deep experience of God’s love that, in spite of difficulties and evil, is translated into a healthy optimism.  Pope Francis and Benedict XVI recall this experience to highlight “the immense and infinite love that the Lord has for each one of us.”

Joy and optimism are typically Salesian and their roots are precisely in a heart inhabited by God, grasped by Him.  “Joy is a value that has always characterized the life style of Valdocco and of Mornese and that shines today in our personal and community reality.  We are called to be “the sign and expression of God’s love,” which is Love and Joy! (Circular 914).

Each Educating Community and each Daughter of Mary Help of Christians is asked to give the reason for this faith in difficult times; to live the faith as gift and proclaim the Good News.  “God has entered into this history and loves us.”

All will be well.  It is a message of optimism based on the certainty of being loved and protected by God who invites us to social responsibility, to fraternal solidarity, to care for life.