The Best Antidote to Anxiety is Altruism

Dear Parish Family,

There are so many people in distress right now – and for good reason. A generation ago in Ireland, there was tragic violence between Protestants and Catholics in the north, which is why, when they refer to that time, they simply call it “The Troubles.” My grandmother referred to her youth during the Great Depression as “The Hard Times.” And up until now, I could never fully relate to those terms. But now I get it.

We are in the midst of some serious troubles. These are indeed hard times for us all. And they are difficult to take. We are all over-stressed and under-hugged and our worries are legitimate and unavoidable. We need to find ways to cope.

I was reading an article from Harvard University about ways that we can cope with the stresses we’re facing right now. So many of the things the article listed are essential parts of our faith, such as seeking signs of confirmation of our hopes, not just our fears… Practicing gratitude by thinking of three blessings in your life from the day… thinking about what you might say to a friend who was panicking over what’s going on and then turning around and saying those same things to yourself. (Nothing’s better for us than to treat ourselves the way we would treat our best friend.)

All of these were good advice, but perhaps the best advice of all is to find something positive to do that responds to what’s happening around us. A therapist was recently quoted as saying: the best antidote to anxiety is altruism. As the sign in front of our church says, although we are quarantined in solitude, we are not separated in isolation. We’re called to be “socially distant, but spiritually connected.”

There are so many ways to connect. There are so many tasks that are positive and can really make a difference in the lives of people who are in struggle. In this newsletter you’ll see all the things our parishioners in Ravena and Coxsackie can do to flatten the curve and ease people’s burdens, such as…

  • A new face mask-making ministry that can help people in essential jobs stay safe as they serve us through our quarantine…
  • Offering a spare in-law apartment or the not-yet-sold home of a deceased relative as temporary quarantine space for a health care worker or someone who has tested positive and needs to avoid contact with others…
  • Delivering your overpurchased toilet paper, sanitizer, wipes and other essential items no longer available for sale in stores to collection pews in the rear of our churches…
  • A chance to deliver food pantry items to a homebound person…
  • Joining a small prayer group over Zoom to sort all of this out with other people of faith…
  • Securing the future of your parish by becoming an e-giver…
  • Giving 5 minutes a day to talk to a homebound county resident…
  • Praying for those on our prayer chain..
  • Calling Bob to offer an hour or two a week for a volunteer need…
  • Tuning in to our prayer offerings on YouTube…
  • Participating in family prayer moments on Facebook Live…
  • Praying with your fellow parishioners every day at 3 PM…

The challenges we face are great. But the faith we practice is larger than all the challenges combined.

Because of our troubles, this Holy Week has the potential to be the realest and holiest one we’ve ever experienced. May we consecrate it for God by the beautiful way we live through these hard times.

Faithfully,
Father Scott