Johannesburg, 26 June, 2020 / 9:00 pm (ACI Africa).
An Irish missionary Cleric serving in South Africa has, on the occasion of his 56th Priestly anniversary recently marked, shared a message of hope amid COVID-19 global pandemic, inviting the people of God on the continent to remain optimistic because the coronavirus “will come to pass.”
“I am writing all this today to comfort you, console you and strengthen you. We are faced with the pandemic, but it will pass,” Msgr. Barney McAleer writes his reflection published by the Inter-Regional Meeting of the Bishops of Southern Africa (IMBISA) Thursday, June 25.
Msgr. McAleer who has spent his entire priestly life in South Africa ministering in Johannesburg Archdiocese and in recent years coordinating the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) Foundation adds in reference to COVID-19 crisis, “Nothing lasts forever. Our God is the God of life and the God of history. He speaks to us through the events of life and the events of our own personal lives. His hand is over us at all times.”
“We have to face challenges of one kind and another, as did Jesus, the apostles and all who followed after. We stand firm in our faith, confident in God’s love,” he reflects and expresses the confidence that “we will see the end of this pandemic and pick up the pieces of a normal life eventually.”
The Irish Cleric to whom Pope emeritus Benedict XVI bestowed the title “monsignor” in January 2014 just before he turned 75 goes on to recount global challenges that have come “to an end” during his lifetime.