COVID-19 has been infecting the world in waves for two years now. Through most of that time we’ve been on high alert and taken out-of-the-ordinary measures to stop the virus getting a hold in our country. Now we have a new wave, the Omicron variant, spreading in every region. Our main defences are vaccination and degrees of social isolation.

After living on edge for so long we can feel depleted and be tempted to give up: to stop adhering to the health and safety measures, to bicker and blame and to lose sight of our responsibility to others. But we can’t give up — we’re people of hope and community. Joan Chittister described the endurance needed for community in the imagery of tending a fire: when some members feel burnt out, others step forward in relays and breathe on the embers to keep the fire of hope burning.

Lent this year gives us opportunities to breathe on the embers and warm one another with new energy and resolve. We can use this energy to increase our awareness of the “poor” in our midst and at the peripheries of our consciousness. It’s the biblical challenge to “listen to the cry of the poor”. We’re accustomed to donating to the Caritas appeal during Lent. That money is mainly used to support development projects in our neighbouring Pacific countries. But when we read about the people involved in the projects our giving can transform into solidarity with them.

The whole point of listening to others is to hear and understand their situations better and to grow in solidarity with them — to grow in the belief that we are a community and what affects one affects us all. The men and women telling their experiences of abuse to the Royal Commission say that not only were they abused, but when they disclosed it to authorities they were stonewalled — disbelieved and discredited. Consequently their suffering was intensified and prolonged. It can be painful for us to hear real stories but that does not excuse us from listening.

During this Lent we might take up the listening challenge. Maybe take an issue such as the living wage, prison reform, social housing, adequacy of social welfare benefits, modern slavery, disparities in health access, racism, clericalism and women in the Church, and listen to people who are affected by it. Not only will listening inform us but it might encourage us to support the people affected in some way — to move over and let them have some warmth.

We thank all the contributors to this March issue. Through sharing their reflections, research, faith, discussion, art and craft they have given us a thoughtful magazine. We welcome Clare Curran the first of our bimonthly page 3 writers.

And as is our custom, our last words are of blessing and encouragement.

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 268 March 2022: 2