I am Father John Nambusseril, pastor of Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church parish in Golden Meadow. During this unpredictable time of the COVID-19 pandemic, I am trying my best to stay happy, be positive, stay healthy and stay connected with my parishioners. I am proud of my parishioners who are united at this time and are taking care of our parish family.
Through a personal letter written to my parishioners, I told them that I offer my daily Mass for them and for their intentions. For those who have Facebook, we livestream the Mass and Divine Mercy Hour, and send God’s blessings through Facebook. We encouraged parishioners to bring pictures of themselves and post them in their pews. We have eucharistic adoration on certain days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the intentions of our parishioners, for those affected by the pandemic and for protection from the Coronavirus. I have offered to hear confessions in the parking lot and distributed blessed palms and holy water as parishioners drove through.
I miss seeing my parishioners and their smiling faces. However, the church is opened for them to pray and spend time with the Lord, but they too miss coming together for the public celebration of Mass.
The members of the Pastoral Council and Strategic Planning committee organized a plan of outreach to the families. Some parishioners call and check on our homebound and sick on a regular basis. We are trying our best to connect with the people as much as we can. We try to call all of our families to check in on them, ask how they are doing and give them updated information. We look forward to that day when we can all gather together as a worshiping community.
The celebration of Holy Week and Easter without the congregation was a difficult situation for me, as is having funeral services without Mass. When I receive holy Communion, I feel bad that my people can’t receive it, also. But the prayer of spiritual communion gives me consolation that they receive Jesus in their heart at that same time.
At this time in the COVID-19 pandemic, we now know what we really miss. Let me share with you a
WhatsApp message that I received about the 10th apple effect.
A hunter once lost his way deep inside the forest while chasing a deer. He used all his navigation skills, but he could not find any way out of the forest nor could he find any food to eat for three days at a stretch. He lost all hope and he thought he would die of hunger—and that's exactly when an apple tree caught his sight. He was so happy that he collected 10-20 apples to feed himself for the rest of his search. As he ate the first apple, his joy knew no bounds and he just couldn't stop feeling grateful and blessed. He thanked life. He thanked God. He could not believe his luck when he ate the first apple, but he was less grateful while having the second apple and even less grateful when he had the fifth apple.
Somehow, with each passing apple, the hunger still kept on increasing and the joy kept on decreasing drastically. He just could not enjoy the 10th apple. He even started throwing away apples that did not taste good and began complaining.
When he took the 10th apple in his hand, he was still very hungry but he just did not feel like having it any more. Economics calls this diminishing marginal utility. It is actually the law of diminishing gratitude, in simple words, taking things for granted—or let’s just call it the 10th apple effect. The apple represents the gifts that life gives us. The 10th apple represents our lack of gratitude for these gifts of life and our ‘take everything for granted’ attitude.
We were having the 10th apple effect in our world for some time. Abundance of everything and we started complaining. We complained about everything. But during this stay at home mandate, most of us started appreciating lots of things in life. Things we took for granted, even the small things, like "Oh, it is so nice to talk to a human being!" or "I am so glad that I got food today and that I am healthy and safe!”
We never had these thoughts two months ago. Our present situation is shaking us and showing us that we are dependent on something bigger than what we think and we have to be grateful for all of our blessings. Right now, all of us have two choices – to be grateful or to be stressful – and it is a choice!!
Here is another powerful story I want to share with you. A 73-year-old man in Italy recovered in the hospital. He was told that he must pay for the use of a ventilator for one day and he started crying. The doctor advised him not to cry over the bill; they will manage. But what the old man said made all of the doctors cry. He said “I am not crying because of the money I have to pay. I can pay all the money. I am crying because I have been breathing God’s air for 73 years and I never paid anything for it. It takes 5,000 Euros to use a ventilator in a hospital for one day. Do you know how much I owe God? I didn’t thank God before.”
That man’s words are worth our reflection. When we breathe the air without any pain, no one takes the air seriously. Only when we enter the hospital, we realize that even breathing oxygen with a ventilator costs money.
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Gratitude is a strong, powerful and empowering emotion. Sometimes we have to bring more awareness and be more grateful for the gifts in life. Gratitude supports our immune system and it makes us strong. Stress makes us weak. If you are grateful, you can’t be fearful.
Never let the 10th apple effect make you take the gifts in life granted. Never let your gratitude for life fade away. Be grateful to almighty God at all times for all of his blessings and for the gift of life. Stay happy, stay positive, and stay healthy. God bless you!!