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One assumes that Easter Sunday included an element of risk in the days of Agatha of Sicily.

Agatha was born about 80 years before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, an event that marked the beginning of Constantines acceptance of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

She lived during a time of persecution. Noted for her great beauty, Agatha suffered imprisonment in a brothel, torture and death for her devotion to God and her refusal to renounce a commitment to sexual abstinence.

In our modern world, with modern conveniences and freedoms, its easy to forget how much Christians have suffered for their faith, how things havent always come easily. Agatha had the Roman establishment to worry about, and her contemporaries in Nigeria have Boko Haram.

Its no secret that people of other faiths suffer unjustified persecution, sometimes at the hands of Christians. Its also true that a virus doesnt discriminate and cant be equated with systematic targeting of those who profess a particular creed.

But on this day, its worth noting that this is an Easter Sunday like no other. St. Joseph experienced martial law during the Civil War and shared in national deprivations during World War II, yet the churches remained open as places of community and prayer.

Not so today, because of a virus that requires limits on public gatherings, so as to protect the health of those who would much rather be shoulder-to-shoulder inside a church. For all the talk of golf courses, restaurants and economic consequences, this is surely one of the most difficult sacrifices in our city and nation.

In other cities, some talked of risking their lives to attend Easter services. While the sentiment is understandable, the potential risk to others would seem to negate the message on this day.

At home today, a believer might feel a certain kinship to the two disciples who failed to immediately recognize the risen Christ on the Road to Emmaus. Luke fails to name one of them, a skillful literary device that allowed generations of readers to relate to this unknown disciples blindness.

Today, just like on the Road to Emmaus on the first Easter, what you seek is there, but it is harder to find while you watch services on a computer. Tomorrow, the focus turns back to science, where legions of doctors, nurses and other health professionals labor amid great personal danger to save patients and rid our communities of this virus.

Instead of complaining, take a moment on Easter Sunday to thank these selfless health workers for the dedication and sacrifice that will allow us to once again travel, shop, study and worship when and where we want.

After all, Agatha of Sicily is a patron saint of nurses.

Read the original here:
A difficult road on this Easter - News-Press Now

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