Page 12 - XITE Magazine 2021

Annual Magazine

WITNESS Fr. Mukti Clarence, SJ
XITE College

The year 2020 has been a memorable year for all of us as it exposed us to the new normal of
wearing masks, sanitizing, social distancing, online learning and teaching, work from home,
etc. Against this background and faced with an unprecedented challenge, we solidly affirm that
God's ways are not our ways. They are mysterious and beyond our comprehension.

Having remain untouched by this Coronavirus and having seen its claws all around, without
making me feel different from anyone else, makes me a bit of a victim and a bit of a witness, like
many others. I think the learning curve is from the first to the second.
Victim, like so many around me who put up with it and are suffering from it. With that
uncertainty of seeing the symptoms appear and realizing that nothing calms me, nothing
relieves those remedies of the immune booster and so on. But this experience of being a victim,
which is perhaps the first, has to give way to another, that of a witness, and this, at least in my
case, is the most profound and fruitful experience, as far as I can see.

I witness how weakness brushes against me, settle into my life or invades me: it is tough to live
there, for minutes, hours, days that become eternal. But at the same time, it is very fruitful
because I touch the humus and the earth of what I am, an earthly, finite, fragmented being...
Very far from that deity and centre in which I like to live, and for which I strive every day from
my personal or professional expertise. It is good that this happy virus makes us all feel weak,
the specialists, the politicians, the health professionals, the relatives, and the patients. It is an
opportunity to learn to worship and give thanks for the mystery of fragility and vulnerability
that surrounds this adventure of my life.
What then is life? How do I live my life? What do I take along with me when I die? What value
do wealth, power, qualifications, talents, name, and fame have when confronted with death?
Nevertheless, in our daily lives, we seldom pay attention to these “life-and-death” issues but
rather fret over matters of little moment. What matters is to live a meaningful and purpose-
driven life: a life lived in communion with the Divine Breath, who is God our Lifeline.

One of the apparent symptoms of Covid-19 is breathlessness. Thanks to Covid (!) I have learned
that life is precious and that I must value it and take care of it by regular physical exercise and
rest. One other thing that I learned from the invisible virus is the visible reality of the breath of
humanity. At the core of this Breath of Humanity is the compassion that urged people to go
beyond the barriers of religion and caste to take care of the sick and the afflicted. Thanks to this
Breath of Humanity, I became keenly aware of my sense of belonging to the whole human
family. Corona Virus infects people regardless of religion, region, class, colour, gender, etc.
Therefore, it has to be confronted and defeated on its ground by the human family as it stands
together as one body.

The world has already searched for the vaccine to fight the Corona Virus that will save us from
extermination. But the other virus, as invisible as the Corona Virus but even more destructive,
is on the prowl, as always, to infect humans. As we know, its variants are hatred, jealousy,
selfishness, greed, pride, etc. To our good fortune, the anti-virus is already available in the form
of love, kindness, forgiveness and compassion. Let us vaccinate ourselves with these antidotes
and save ourselves from self-annihilation. May the breath of God and the breath of humanity
add purpose and meaning to our life.

10 Volume-VIII, 2020