The New Normal

People now talk about “the new normal” - Photo: bigstockphoto.com

After a period of disruption, like that we have experienced during the Covid-19 lockdown, people talk about “getting back to normal”. Generally, this means that people are hoping to get back to how things were before the disruptive event happened. But the reality is that the events that happen to us not only interrupt the flow of life - they change it. Often something new emerges that moves us beyond where we used to be. It is not possible or even desirable to go back to exactly the way things were. If the change is of sufficient scale or importance it may trigger a significant rethinking of priorities and perhaps a general re-orientation of life.

I am reminded here of Jesus’ parables about not putting an old patch on a new garment or new wine in old wineskins. These are images that speak to the experience that people had when they met Jesus. Many of these people were doing fine and had a clear orientation and sense of direction in life. Then an encounter with Jesus disorients them. Their usual way of operating is disrupted by the fact that he operates out of a different set of assumptions about life. His pattern of relating to God and neighbour challenges what is normal for them. They are left with a choice – go back to how life was before they met him or undergo a reorientation based on the principles and values of the reign of God as revealed by and in Jesus.

It was a real challenge to what we previously considered normal practice and, while many embraced the new reality with joy and hope, there were others who longed to go back to how things were before this disruptive event happened in the life of the church.

For some Vatican II represented this kind of re orientation in the life of the church. After a long period in what was essential a defensive position in relation to the modern world the Council called for an engagement with it. Underpinning this shift was an acknowledgement of the missionary vocation of the church. It does not exist for its own sake but to serve the mission of God. As the Father sent Jesus so Jesus sends the church into the world to proclaim the gospel for all to hear. The documents of Vatican avoided the language of condemnation that was a feature of previous councils. They adopted a stance of solidarity with the whole human family, a stance that finds particular expression in the opening lines of the document on the Church in the Modern World - “The joy and the hope, the grief and anguish of the (people) of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well”.

Many other dimensions of the reorientation that the council instituted are directly related to this fundamental shift in perspective. It included a changed response to the great religious traditions of the world. It was a real challenge to what we previously considered normal practice and, while many embraced the new reality with joy and hope, there were others who longed to go back to how things were before this disruptive event happened in the life of the church.

We have managed to slow the spread of the disease but overcoming the virus completely will need global cooperation at a level beyond what we have had in the past.

Now life has again been disrupted by an event that has impacted almost every aspect of life in every part of the world - health, politics, economics, education, employment, and faith. A virus does not recognise borders. We have managed to slow the spread of the disease but overcoming the virus completely will need global cooperation at a level beyond what we have had in the past.

People now talk about “the new normal”. As we start to emerge from this threat and look around at the world we now inhabit, we become aware that as well as dealing with Covid-19, which is still spreading in some parts of the world, there are many other major issues still out there. If addressed with the kindness, solidarity, creativity, and commitment to do what is necessary that we saw in response to coronavirus, we can hope to overcome these threats also. We have a long way to go to reach this goal. In our confrontation with Covid-19 I hope we have taken some steps in the right direction.

Columban Fr Patrick O'Shea resides at St Columban's, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.