Jesus ate the Passover meal with the apostles. That meal was the example of Holy Communion. Jesus washed the feet the apostles to show that leadership requires service and humility. Jesus needed the apostles but they were still not understanding the full context of who Jesus is and what Jesus would do. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus sought solace from God through prayer. What Jesus would be required to endure, to suffer through, and to accept without fighting was going to be painful. He needed prayer.
We find ourselves in scary times. If we are to fear not, then our strength must come from God through our belief in Christ Jesus. We believe and we pray. We have faith. However, we must be like Jesus wanted the apostles to be that night in Gethsemane. We must stay awake while we watch and pray.
Watching is not a lack of faith. Watching what we do and following instructions is not a lack of faith. Doing what health professionals, gifted by God to work in that profession, ask us to do is not a lack of faith in what God does. We do not know if those health professionals were indeed assigned by God to be in position for such a time as this. We are called to action to watch and pray. Pray for this world. Pray for our communities. Pray for those who are sick, for those who will get sick, and for the families of those who will not survive COVID-19. Watch out for each other. Pray for each other. That is what Jesus wanted the apostles to do. That is what Jesus would do at a time like this.
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