“Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities!  All things are vanity!” The first reading for this Sunday from the book of Ecclesiastes expresses the pointlessness or futility of life we may experience from time to time. This is especially true in our present world that continues to be encumbered by covid-19.

At the end of June I and about 300 Chicago priests gathered with the Cardinal in Lake Geneva, WI for four days of prayer and reflection. I entered the first meeting room, which was too small for the number of attendees, and I immediately thought, “I’m going to get covid.” Sure enough, by the end of the week I had tested positive for covid. After 16 days in isolation I was finally able to leave isolation once my symptoms had subsided and I had tested negative. I am thankful for Fr Silvanus who took Masses for me, as well as my staff who made runs to the pharmacy and grocery store for me.

Sixteen days of isolation is a long time, which afforded me many opportunities to reflect. Having followed all of the safety protocols for such a long time, I really thought I was going to get through this pandemic unscathed. So when my test came back positive I felt very much like Qoheleth, “vanity of vanities, all things are vanity.” I thought, what was the point of being so diligent with safety protocols, since in the end I got covid anyway?

But hen I began to realized how incredibly blessed I am, along with many others who have had access to the vaccines. I am thankful for the scientists and medical professions that developed and distributed the vaccines. Although, I still caught the corona virus, the vaccines and booster have saved many from much more serious symptoms, and potentially even death. Unfortunately, many others, most especially the poor, have no access to the vaccines and they make up a significant percentage of the 15 million people who have died from this disease.

The second thing that I thought about was all the precautions we took at Saint Andrew Church and School to keep our community safe. It took a lot of work to set up and manage the ongoing safety protocols, that quite frankly no one really enjoyed. But, what I came to appreciate is that they worked! Had we not been as diligent, many more people would have been infected. One particular parish I know of had to cancel Christmas Masses because of an outbreak that happened in their community, just in time for the holidays. Thanks to the diligent efforts of all the members of our safety team, ever since the lockdown ended, without fail, we’ve been able to safely have Mass.

We are now well into year three of this pandemic, with no clear end in sight. We may indeed think, “what’s the point?,” but the point is we do the things we do because that is what love requires of us. Perhaps whenever we feel like throwing up our arms like Qoheleth, we can alter his words and say instead, “‘Love of loves,’ says Saint Andrew Parish, ‘love of loves! All things are love!’”