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The commemoration of birthday of St. Pio of this year 2020 occurred during a great upheaval of global pandemic. The lockdown imposed by the government prevented many of us to come together as sons and daughters of St. Pio to celebrate his birthday. Some Prayers Groups moved their celebration online to share their personal experiences during these challenging times. As sons and daughters of Padre Pio (as he is fondly called by his numerous devotees) what should be our altitude during this crisis of global pandemic?
In 1918, St. Pio celebrated his 31st birthday during an outbreak of pandemic known as Spanish flu (February 1918-April 1920). The Spanish flu killed around 50 million people. In Italy, the home country of Padre Pio more than 400,000 people died as a result of this pandemic according to some sources. On October 19 1918, facing the uncertainties that the pandemic brought, Fr Benedetto (the Spiritual Director of Padre Pio) wrote a letter to Padre Pio asking what was going to be the outcome of the pandemic. Fr Benedetto asked: “Tell me also where this scourge (Spanish flu) is going to lead us in the end. What does the future hold in store for us? I am terrified as I observe that justice is by no means appeased and the sky is growing darker and darker.” Few days later, Padre Pio responded to the enquiry of his Spiritual Director. Padre Pio said: “the present scourge, in God’s plan, is primarily intended to draw men closer to the divinity. Its secondary and immediate purpose is to ward off the persecutions against God’s children which could follow for some of them as the just fruit of the present war.”
The response of Padre Pio to his Spiritual Director over a century ago is still refreshingly relevant in our own time even as we confront the travails of the Corona virus pandemic. God is using the unpleasant occasion of pandemic to draw us closer to his divine mercy. God is calling our attention to our sinful wretchedness and utter need for His unfathomable mercy. Drawing from the wisdom of our Patron Padre Pio, we can discern the call to conversion, renewal and intimate communion with Jesus. This is a time of introspection, soul-searching and self-evaluation in the light of Gospel’s call to conversion and personal holiness. We can safely assume that it is God’s plan that many men and women will find their way to Him during this terrible pandemic.
Many of us are facing serious challenges during this lockdown; and even as the lockdown is gradually being lifted, we are faced with uncertainties. We have no idea how this present crisis will end or when it will end. These challenges can be a means of purification and renewal for us. We do not glorify suffering. But in the light of suffering and death of Jesus, suffering has new meaning and salvific significance. We also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint (Rom 5:3-5). Padre Pio thoroughly understood the hidden treasure of suffering that he desired it all the more. Padre Pio would often say: “I suffer only when I have nothing to suffer.”
We can also offer all our challenges and difficulties to God in reparation for the sins of the whole world. Instead of complaining about the difficulties we may be facing, we can offer them to divine mercy as restitution for all the atrocities perpetrated by sinful humanity. We can surrender all our fears, worries and anxieties to God who makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him (Rom 8:28). Needless to say that our primary task (as members of Padre Pio Prayer Group) during these challenging times is prayer. We continue to ask the good Lord through the intercession of St Pio to deliver the world from the threat of this pandemic and draw all humanity to Himself in contrition and conversion.
