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Video available https://rumble.com/vlw4yh-our-decisive-times-the-cross-the-eucharist-and-covid-19-ii.html (HERE) Our Decisive times –II The Cross, The Eucharist, and COVID-19 The Messiah was expected to free humanity from the two things that are most feared: suffering and death. Instead, Jesus chose to suffer and die on the Cross. Why? What is the cross The cross is a Roman instrument used to dominate by fear. Behind this tactic is Satan. He uses it to make us afraid of responding to God. Satan came at Jesus with the Cross to keep Him from doing the Father’s will. But Jesus overcame fear with love for His Father’s will and embraced suffering. His act of love defeated Satan. The cross became a sign of His victory and a reminder that we must be one with Him to enter the same battle. Jesus made it clear: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). Yes, Christians, like Jesus, seek to heal and alleviate suffering, but also, like Jesus, we embrace any suffering that is in the path of obedience to God. In other words, we do not allow suffering to stop us from following God’s will. If we are ONE with Jesus, His love casts out fear of suffering and death. We may still have fear, but it no longer controls us.  To embrace the cross is the decisive test of discipleship. St. Paul, “the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18). COVID-19 is a cross It has killed many people and caused untold suffering. It has brought division and ruin.  How do we know how to live the cross of COVID-19? Jesus asked his disciples at Gethsemane to accompany Him. Our Gethsemane is Jesus in His Eucharistic presence. This is our priority.  Jesus knew that Satan would come after us. He gave Himself as Eucharist so that we could stand strong at the Cross and conquer as ONE with Him. He guides us, removes our fears, and gives us courage, no matter what evil we may face, what cross we must embrace. Without the Eucharist, our soul languishes just as our body does without food. The Church teaches us that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.[1]” It is, therefore, essential to go deep in prayer and listen to the Spirit and understand what we are facing.  St John Paul II said: “Through prayer, especially to Jesus at Communion, you will understand so many things about the world and its relationship to him, and you will be in a position to read accurately what are referred to as the “signs of the times.” The first thing Satan wants is to deny us is the Eucharist. The disciples fell asleep; they did not stay in prayer united with Him. Then, overcome with fear, they abandoned Jesus. Fear has an effect on our cognitive process and in our spirit. If it dominates us, it makes us weak and incapable of discernment. As a result, we only want to avoid the cross at any price.  The COVID crisis has revealed how easily we too fall into fear and abandon Him. Churches remained closed for months. This is a great tragedy.  The example of the saints The argument for closing the Churches has been to protect from contagion. We are told that decisions are made “in an abundance of prudence.” Such prudence is not a virtue; it is the logic of the world played out by the government and the media. Let us attend to the wisdom of God found in the saints: In every century and region of the world, since the catacombs, the saints risked their lives to receive the Eucharist. Many were martyred. They are too numerous to count.[2] [3] [4] Some were teenagers, like Blessed Joan Roig of Barcelona[5]. In 1936, the communists had closed the churches, so Joan Roig went to the homes in secret to distribute...