With pandemic slowing, time has come to celebrate life

As we continue to journey through this pandemic, The world is starting to reopen and become normal. It should be a time to celebrate life. However, lasting effects of the pandemic are holding us back, and anxiety, resentment and vulnerability linger.

We must remind ourselves that now is a time to choose hope and joy and to celebrate life – celebrations that were altered too long, making it  difficult to advance as though nothing has happened.

One lesson we learned from this pandemic was the importance, as a family, to pause, reflect, have faith and keep moving forward. Our children have learned that hope moves them forward in celebration.

For my children and others, the world has evolved and changed. Although you may not realize it now, what we have endured will make us stronger. Even in uncertain times, children are our hope for the future.

At its finest, humanity exists to serve others. We faced these challenges together – to make the world a better place – and the time is now to celebrate life.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace” (Eccl 3:1-8).

This is God’s gift to us, his perfect timing.

Does God want us to dwell in the anguish and the resentment of the pandemic? Or does God want us to celebrate life? A time has come to celebrate life.

Lord, as we continue this journey to a safe return to normal, hear our prayers. We come before you today in need of continued hope. There are times when we feel helpless, and there are times when we feel weak. In these times, we pray for hope, for a better life and a better future. Lord, help us to walk in your light and live our lives celebrating you in faith and glory.

Kristy Solis grew up in Meraux, where she still resides with her family, parishioners at Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church in Chalmette. She has practiced as a registered nurse and a family nurse practitioner. She is a nursing faculty member at the University of Holy Cross. Kristy’s husband serves in the U.S. Army. She has two young daughters and one young-at-heart papa.