Praying in a Time of Pandemic
Kevin OâGorman, SMA
âDeliver, Lord, your Church, to save it from all evil.â (First / second century Didache 10)
âIn liturgy as in life, the stakes are high.â1
Just prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, a copy of Bishop B. C. Butlerâs book Prayer2 came to hand. As the pandemic intensified and increasingly became the sole topic of conversation in society and the media, the bookâs subtitle â An Adventure in Living â raised serious questions for âprayer and faithâ in a period that focussed on sheer survival. The title of two popular songs from the 1970s â âStayinâ Aliveâ (The Bee Gees) and âSurviving the Lifeâ (Neil Diamond) â sounded more in tune with the time and its troubles. The second phrase in the latterâs lyrics, âProviding the soulâ, presents the problem of survival not solely in physical but also in spiritual terms. The âterms and conditionsâ of lockdown and separation raised issues of both health, arising from illness, and hope as a result of isolation.
In the Foreword of his book Butler speaks of âordinary unassuming busy folk faced, as we all are, by the immeasurable mystery of existence and the need to take up some position in the face of that mysteryâ.3 The global experience of the pandemic has engendered existential and economic, ethical and evangelical questions for many of us, if not all, as we are forced to face assumptions about so-called ânormal livingâ. Opening up the scope of his work Butler offers the following invitation: âBut I would hope that even an agnostic, if this book should fall into his hands, would catch some glimpse of the meaning which it tries to express, and would judge it no betrayal of his intellectual integrity to feel that it would be good if these things could be found to be trueâ.4 Appealing to integrity, prayer in a time of pandemic seeks to identify, interpret and intercede for âthese thingsâ.
The Embolism, the prayer immediately following the Lordâs Prayer in the Communion Rite of the Mass, offers an opportunity to both explore and express the things essential to human survival on earth. Described in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal as âdeveloping the last petition of the Lordâs Prayer itself, [it] asks for deliverance from the power of evil for the whole community of the faithfulâ.5 Placed between the Our Father and the doxology, the Embolism is an expression of both petition and proclamation. Ending on an eschatological note, it can be extended to embrace the whole of humanity in its explicit reference to the Second Coming of Christ the Redeemer. As an elucidation of âprayer and faithâ in and for a time of emergency, the Embolism is eminently eloquent.
Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil
Deliverance has a deep biblical resonance, beginning with the release of Israel from bondage in Egypt. This deliverance is the basis of their bond as a people under the leadership of Moses and their belonging to God by covenant. Daniel Harrington declares that âwhat was new about the Mosaic religion was the emphasis on the escape from Egypt as the great act of God on behalf of his peopleâ.6 Deliverance is a dynamic description of Godâs intervention in the life of both Israel and individuals. Despite hearing âso many disparaging me, âTerror from every side! Denounce him!ââ the prophet Jeremiah proclaims he will sing and praise âthe Lord for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of evil personsâ (Jer 20:10, 13). The Psalmist issues the poetic petition, âDeliver us, O Lord, from our bondage as streams in dry landâ (Ps 126[125]:4). Detailing the distinctiveness of divine deliverance in the Old Testament and describing its many different deeds, Wilhelm Kasch declares that âthey are determined by the creating and sustaining will of Yahweh for whom the salvation of the people and the individual is part of his creative action in the salvation history commenced by him. Because he is the sovereign Lord of this history, the nature, range and possibility of deliverance are wholly dependent on him and his willâ.7
Although the idea of deliverance is central to the proclamation of the New Testament, the English versions of the NT vary in their wording to express this theme. One important passage occurs in Luke 4:18, where Jesus sets out his mission in the synagogue at Nazareth, quoting from Isaiah. Raymond Brown comments that âthe passage (Is 61:1â2), which reflects the Jubilee-year amnesty for the oppressed, is used to portray Jesus as an anointed prophet and is programmatic of what Jesusâ âministry will bring aboutâ.8 Whereas the King James Version translates the third part of this programme as âto preach deliverance to the captivesâ, many other versions refer to âreleaseâ rather than âdeliveranceâ. Whatever the exact translation here, the Bible employs a variety of synonyms to teach that God is a God of deliverance. In his letters, Paul places Christ at the centre of Godâs plan for deliverance of humanity from evil, declaring that the Father âhas rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Sonâ (Col 1:13 NRSV). With universal deliverance ultimately dependent on the death and resurrection of Jesus, Luke depicts its delivery on earth in the deeds of Jesus during his public ministry. As John Navone notes, âthe characteristically Lucan theme of salvationâ is âlinked with deliverance from death in the account about Jairusâ daughterâ and âassociated with deliverance from diabolical possession; and with the remission of sins in the case of the sinful woman and Zacchaeusâ.9
Illness and isolation, sickness and separation are among the physical and social evils experienced by people during the pandemic. The daily register of cases and deaths reported both at home and abroad have made for sombre statistics. One letter writer thanked the medical and scientific community for âthe reintroduction of the word âdeathâ into common parlanceâ, instead of âthe dreaded Americanism âpassed awayâ or more commonly, and worse, âpassedâ to describe what happens when a body breathes its lastâ.10 The prevalence of deaths and the poignancy of restricted funeral rites due to the pandemic drive the need for deliverance from this dreaded form of evil, drawing down prayer that the coronavirus may pass. Acknowledging the reality of death in this life, the Second Vatican Council affirmed that âwhile the imagination is at a loss before the mystery of death, the Church, taught by divine revelation, declares that God has created people in view of a blessed destiny that lies beyond the boundaries of earthly miseryâ.11 Praying to be delivered from âevery evilâ, especially in the end death, expresses the faith which âmakes them capable of being united in Christ with their loved ones who have already died, and gives them hope that they have found true life with God.12
The initial intercession of the Embolism is an immediate repetition of the final petition of the Our Father. Indeed, as Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) states, âthroughout the ages men and women have interpreted this petition in a broader sense. In the midst of the worldâs tribulations they have also begged God to set a limit to the evils that ravage the world and our livesâ.13 The extension to engage âevery evilâ, expanding the concern of the Church to embrace the ills and injustices experienced in earthly existence, is fittingly expressed by Pope Benedict XVI: âYes, we may and we should ask the Lord also to free the world, ourselves, and the many individuals and peoples who suffer from the tribulations that make life almost unbearableâ.14
Graciously grant peace in our days
The second element exchanges the positive for the negative, interceding for God to graciously grant the gift of peace, which will be repeated almost immediately in the Prayer for Peace. Noting that âour word peace does not bring out all the richness of the Hebrew word shalom stem[ming] from a root which means to be whole, intact, finished, completeâ, Gisbert Ghysens states that it ârefers, of course, to individual happiness; but also (and more often) it looks to the collective prosperity of the nation as a wholeâ.15 Like the biblical concept of justice, peace is a relational reality rooted in and resulting from the covenant with God. Peace is mentioned at the end of the beautiful blessing in the Book of Numbers, âMay the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face and bring you peaceâ (Num 6:24â26). Indeed, this blessing bears the peace which many of the Psalms proclaim as the sign of Godâs presence. The fulfilment of Godâs faithfulness is often interpreted and indicated by the prophets in the bestowing of the Messianic blessing of peace. Some of the most powerful Old Testament texts in the Advent liturgy are assurances of peace in prosperity. Isaiah, in particular, points to the personification in the Messianic prophecy: âFor there is a child born for usâŚand this is the name they give him... Prince-of-Peaceâ (Is 9:5).
In the New Testament Luke, seeing peace as a symbol of salvation, has Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, point to the light of dawn that, delivering from âdarkness and the shadow of deathâ, leads âinto the way of peaceâ (1:79). This sense of fulfilment is immediately felt by Simeon who declares that he is ready to depart in peace having seen the Messiah in the child Jesus in the Temple (2:29â32). Luke is the evangelist of peace, bracketing the ministry of Jesus between the announcement by the angels of the advent of peace and the announcement of the Risen Lord at his appearance to the anguished disciples, âPeace be with youâ (2:14; 24:36). As the apostle of peace Paul announces that Christ has come to proclaim âpeace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Fatherâ (Eph 2:17â18). Paul presents peace positively, not purely as the end of hostility but as the experience of happiness that ends in holiness.
In the âFarewell Discourseâ of the Gospel of John, Jesus promises peace to his disciples. Chapter 14 begins with Jesus telling the disciples âDo not let your hearts be troubledâ, which he doubles on with the addition âand do not let them be afrai...