Daily reflection from the CPLO and the Jesuit Institute for 30 August 2021

Published: Mon, 08/30/21

Monday, 30 August 2021

“Give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live.”

~ Deuteronomy 4:1-2 ~

Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8

Before boarding an international flight in July, I was given a compulsory health questionnaire to complete. Without this form—I was sternly warned—I would not be allowed to travel. The request was not only reasonable; it gave me a degree of comfort that measures were being closely followed to minimise the risk of Covid-19 transmission and infection across borders. I completed the form and boarded the plane.

Upon arrival, an airport official was designated to collect the forms. She stood, almost stoic, her arm firmly outstretched as passenger after passenger piled the form onto her palm. Nearing the front of the queue, I noticed the officer was simply collecting the forms without inspecting whether they had been completed. (Every passenger could easily have handed her a blank page and entered the country.)

This scene flooded my mind as I read the readings in the Catholic lectionary for Sunday 22 August 2021.

Though it may seem a mundane example to draw upon, it is easy to see the seriousness of missing the intention behind a law requiring all international travellers to complete the questionnaire. The information collected is intended to ensure that contact tracing is possible should an outbreak of Covid-19 be detected among passengers on that flight to minimise the spread of this modern-day plague.

We will return to my airport scenario throughout this week and explore its pertinence to the readings heard yesterday in Catholic masses worldwide. But, today, I invite you to bring to mind a similar example in your life that you might reflect on over this next week.

Think of something you do that fulfils a law or instruction but misses the point.

Loving God,

Spirit of wisdom,

give me the grace to see,

without judgment

or condemnation,

how I might be missing

the point of the laws

I follow.

Amen.

Reflection prepared by Ricardo da Silva SJ

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