WAR WITH AN UNSEEN ENIMY War in literal term is armed forces fighting between two or more countries. So many countries are fighting for this unseen and unknown enemy at this time, and that is none other than Corona virus, the pandemic. What is pandemic? It is an outbreak of a disease that is occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high portion of the population. We are all fighting against this unseen tiny and most dangerous virus by Stay at home, wearing a mask, social distance, washing our hands with soap, isolating the affected patients and locked down etc. Doctors, nurses, police, are on the forefront risking their lives protecting lives and fighting for it. It is our duty to pray for them so that God may protect them from this deadly virus. We ask God to grant wisdom for scientist, world political leaders that they may guide and protect the lives of people. All are trying their level best to solve this problem but so far not even a single scientist had discovered the vaccine to combat the virus. No powerful world leader can ever solve this problem; people of many nations are battling for this unseen enemy. My question is, why this happening in our world today? Why God permit it to happen? We live in a world of unseen evil and crime today. The evil of lies, injustices and addicted to the use of bad media and nobody knows what each one does in their own digital world, only God alone knows. You may think what is there if I do this or that because everyone does it now days, yes but we need to mind our conscience and go accordingly. The moral value system is confused for many young people. There is a beautiful book entitled, “your life your choice”published by society of St. Paul, better yourself books. Yes, life is our choice but what do I choose? Do I choose life or death or do I choose God or Satan? We need to ask ourselves. Why this kind of a pandemic happening first time in the world history? I feel because of the sin of unseen virus, so as to be aware of our sin and distance from one another, in order that we may learn self discipline and repent from our own sins and return to God. At time, we might have thought that we are the manager of the whole world and everything under the sun is under our control, we thought we are all knowing and failed to realize that we are just a mere breath. Who are we before God? This is a privilege time to examine ourselves that God is leading us to the deserted place to be locked down, so as to purify ourselves. I believe that all of us must have contributed this sin virus in one way or the other. Our unseen evil committed by each individual person or a group of people which God alone knows and now it is come to us in the form of this deadly virus. In Sirach23:18- The one who sins against his marriage bed says to himself, “Who can see me? Darkness surrounds me, the walls hide me, and no one sees me. Why should I worry? The most high will not remember sins.”While Fr.Joseph Edatu, VC was explaining this passage during the retreat he says, “For God darkness is not dark, He is watching from above, God’s eyes are 10,000 times brighter than the sun.” Yes God is all knowing, years ago I met a Priest of Charismatic preacher and asked him, “father God is so good, He fulfills all my good desire even before I express it in words and I wonder how He knows my mind?” The priest replied, “Sister, if God does not know your desire, how wills He knows your sins?” Indeed this was my eye opener and a deepening my faith in God. We must have stimulated God’s anger to the highest temper by our many sins. Let us repent, let us do everything to please Him from now onwards If we have gone away from Him we need to take a “U” turn and return to the Lord, like St.Paul on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19) In the Bible, the prophet Isaiah was sent by God to tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem because their wickedness had increased in Judah. The cause of war was due to the sin of social injustice. Ah, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly, who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy one of Israel, who are utterly estranged! (Isaiah 1:4). He goes on saying hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! (Isaiah 1:10) When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:15). What is happening in our society today? It is good to examine oneself and ask a question. Am I the cause of it in one way or the other? Pause for self examination of conscience. In our society today the sacredness of married life is a question mark, broken families is increasing day by day. “God created a man and a woman for procreation but they used it for recreation” said, one of my professors. The sacredness of married life is a question mark in our world today. Injustices in the society is clearly seen, discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, education and religions The majority and the powerful take the upper hand controlling the minority so much so, even their food system also is decided by so called the powerful people what they should eat what they should not etc. We live in a highly competitive world. People now days seem value money more than a person, as we live in a consumeristic culture. I am afraid that we may also do the same to person, thinking that as long as they are productive and useful, we make the maximum use of them. But when a person becomes old and weak the person may not be regarded as their due respect otherwise, why many parents are put in old age home? Some children do not care about their parents anymore; they thought money and pleasure of life is everything for them. I heart grief in this regard, people can even forget that their own parents stoic, how they were brought them up, with so much love, pain and struggle, from the moment they were conceived in their mother’s womb. Imagine if their parents failed to love and accept them and when they were in helpless stages. They would never being here on earth today right? Years ago, I had visited the old aged home, place called “little sisters of the poor in Bangalore.” As I was talking to an old woman, she started crying bitterly saying to me, “ I have a son, he is gone abroad, he is doing very well but he doesn’t need me anymore ,he comes for holidays but he had never visited me, because I am old and useless for him now.” Infect, this was the first time I heard and it was indeed a heart breaking experience for me and I thought that this is the worst things they do in life, and I can never ever imagine such things in my life. The corona virus is the unseen enemy which is prevalent in many countries and spreading far and wide to the whole world. We are all frightened, going through anxieties, worries and uncertainty. People are taking lot of precaution and fighting for it in order to save our lives here on earth. The question is what about saving our souls? Do you ever think of fighting for the enemy of your soul which is worse than the corona virus? What is the enemy of our soul? This enemy is the evil spirit in each of us that compel us to commit sins and that is the one destroying our peace, joy and love in our family, in our society and the world at large. We should be afraid of our own soul’s enemy that would destroy our everlasting live after dead than the corona virus that cause us physical dead. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, but lose his soul? (Mark 8:36). There is an unseen virus for our soul the virus of lies. Can you see this enemy of lies? And the answer is no and this is the worst enemy for our soul. If a person is not sincere, even if he or she killed someone and said that they did not do it, no one may come to know by looking at his or her face. But God knows everything. He is watching us from above and God’s eyes are in your soul, in your thoughts, in your hearts, in your feelings and emotions, in your words and deeds, He is the wall in your house? So you cannot escape from the eyes of our creator God? Therefore we should fight for this enemy of your body and soul. This enemy could be your evil habit of all sorts, edictions to drugs, lust, your evil words and deeds etc. We must repent and turn to the Lord and this is the best time, God is teaching us and showing us way to come back to the Lord and be saved. You and I are given an opportunity to return home and to be with our parents in order that we might experience God’s love and protection, feel belonging, freedom, joy and peace, home is the place where we belong and it is the place where we are always welcome. We realized how important our home and our parents are in life. If our earthly parents are so good, how much more our creator God would be? Pray for all of us sinners that we may return to back to the Lord and enjoy the compassionate love of our God who is our everything. Sr.Rosemary Roveinai Pou.DSP