“As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up so that those who believe in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting” (John, 3, 14-15).

We have come to the Feast of Easter, the day on which the Church invites us, every year, since nearly 2000 years, to raise our heads to contemplate the Lord, who died to conquer our death, who rose to bring us into eternal life. A year ago, we were in the midst of containment, the virus had invaded every country, and Pope Francis celebrated Easter, alone, in front of a deserted St. Peter’s Square, for the World. For the first time since the prime Easter Day in 33 AD, the Christian people did not gather in churches to accompany the Lord in His Passion and Resurrection, and the celebration of this Holy Day was confined to homes. But we hoped with a certain ingenuity that the epidemic that ruined all our plans and deeply disturbed the life of the Church would run out, allowing a “return to normal” in the fall. The virus decided otherwise, and showed us the danger of underestimating these forces of life that we had thought to dominate in a definitive way…. It also shows us, indirectly, the negative fact that during this period, so few prayers have gone up to the Lord to implore his mercy and forgiveness.

 When the Hebrew people, walking in the desert, has murmured against God, they had been invaded by small snakes with burning bites, ancestors of our SARS-Cov.2, and they groaned with no hope of getting rid of them. Moses had then raised the bronze serpent, the ancestor of the medical caduceus. Those who raised their heads with faith to this serpent were healed. As Saint John tells us, for the world of today, the bronze serpent is the Lord suffering his Passion, lifted up from the earth, on the cross, as a sign of Divine Mercy. So, on this holy Easter Day, let us in turn raise our gaze, in faith, to the Lord on the cross.  Let us pray Him in the name of the World, for the World, a rebellious World bathed in sin, a World subjected to the burning bites of SARS-Cov.2, and which no longer knows how to get rid of it.  

The role played by medical doctors in this period of fight against SARS-Cov.2 is fundamental. The profession has shown responsible, faithful to its vocation. This is often referred to as “heroism”. This word is ill-chosen because it refers to a momentary act, exemplary, accomplished in a rare way by some exceptional individuals. But, it is the medical profession as a whole, with the nurses and the caregivers, that confronts the difficult situation created by the influx of patients from COVID-19, and which does it with constancy and perseverance, without publicity or rhetoric.  If doctors, nurses and caregivers show themselves at the height of the epidemic and assume a load sometimes very heavy in the Resuscitation and Intensive Care Units, it is not because they are “heroic”, it is because they are fulfilling their vocation.  This impressive response has been prepared by the daily, day-to-day exercise of their profession. For them, from the very beginning, it has been a choice for the selfless gift of self, in the service of the sick.  The medical profession, with the nurses, and with all the caregivers are today giving a silent lesson of humanity to a world that remains very much marked by the fierce defense of individual interests, with a weak sense of solidarity. 

Christian doctors have to be, where they are, the leaven – one would say the enzymes or the mRNA – of this responsible and noble attitude of the medical profession. It is not easy to maintain, and human weakness is often felt when the task becomes heavy, uninterrupted, and tiresome. All the more reason to go to Christ on the cross, to rely on him. If we trust him, he will give us this “plus” that comes from prayer, in faith, and allows us to cross (if not move) mountains. In these days when we celebrate the Lord, dead and risen, let us go to the bronze serpent in the desert, let us raise our gaze to Him, raised on the World, let us ask Him for the healing of our serpent burns, let us pray for our colleagues. Let us be women and men of hope and perseverance, for the Profession, for the World.

Fr. Jacques Suaudeau

Ecclesiastical Assistant FIAMC