No Instant Fix But a Great Help

Vaccines for Covid-19 are on the horizon. Yet vaccines will not fix instantly the pandemic. Replies to three questions posed in this short article can help one appreciate that human effort remains key. Human cooperation with a vaccine  will move the world beyond the pandemic.

“We need to restore faith and confidence in our scientists, institutions, and science itself, so that we can minimize vaccine hesitancy and have a successful vaccination program.” https://t.co/T95CSLEC08

— Paul Panaretos (@PDPswim) November 15, 2020

Remembering the Fallen

___________________

Wiki-image bouquet of poppie by “George Chernilevsky | PD-US"

Keeping Balanced

Consequential means stressful. Degrees of feeling stress vary by person. The U.S. Election stresses many even beyond that nation’s borders. Ignatian spirituality can help us regain balance during and after the election.

Stressed? Despairing? Freaking out? Here are some Jesuit tools to help you get through the election and its aftermath. https://t.co/1QoZS6Iedq

— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) November 2, 2020

Overcoming Inadequacy

A traveler’s dictionary is a necessity for many—as necessary as a guidebook. “Jesuit theologian, Josep Giménez [provides a dual purpose guide as he] discusses concepts of heaven, hell and purgatory.” All three converge very strongly on All Souls Day.

The ‘Last Things’: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory: https://t.co/gCiXg6bGq7 #AllSoulsDay

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) November 2, 2020

The Rest of All

All Saints Day functions for living Christians in various ways. Patron saints come to mind, even though they have their days during the year. Exemplars and models of hope-filled living also glow in the solemnity. Yet no human knows all the saints, a reason that the snippet from the Book of Revelation read at mass is appropriate: during his vision of the heavenly worship the Seer heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and their number was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands [5.11].

The festival of the saints not only spurs on Christians to share in glory. Its more valuable function prepares Christians to endure the cost to reach it. Preparing Christians is a reason relics have been prominent from the beginning. In an archived post at ThinkingFaith Jan Graffius traces the relics of a Roman martyr connected regions of Italy, England, northwestern France and the capital of the United States.

Jan Graffius explains how the physicality of Christian faith contributed to the value placed on relics, and describes how one saint’s relics help us to think about Christian witness. https://t.co/1Nce3GmYqK #AllSaintsDay

— Thinking Faith (@ThinkingFaith) November 1, 2020