Coronavirus, the deadly disease, brought the whole world to a halt and made every activity of human beings standstill. This virus is believed to have originated in a seafood market in Wuhan in China that was involved in the illegal sale of wildlife. This disease seems to have some resemblance to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) illness which too had originated in China in 2002. As per the research of zoologists both these diseases have their origin in the animals. The scientists have proved that SARS has been transmitted from bats to human beings and now are in the process of researching to discover whether COVID-19 has been transmitted from bats to pangolins and then to human beings.
The prevailing pandemic Coronavirus has caused the destabilisation of the economy at the global level. The various government agencies are tirelessly working on war footing to tackle this virus. This disease has raised its ugly face and seems to engulf everybody. At this juncture when the humanity is in the jaws of death many nations which are adversely affected have announced lockdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who declared a national lockdown on March 24, reminds us of the Bible passage from the book of Isaiah in chapter 26, verses 20-21: “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the wrath is past. For behold, the Lord is coming forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the bloodshed upon her, and will no more cover her slain.” God was angry with the Israel people for the transgression of His commandments and their wicked ways.
Is it the wrath of God for the all iniquities committed by the present generation: raping our land, raping our seas, despoilment of life, plundering the wealth of the poor nations, oppressing the womenfolk, orphans and children? The rich nations and the elites are in the race of rapid development and of civilisation of wealth detrimental to the economy of the poor nations and the well-being of the poor people. Jon Sobrino, a Latin American Jesuit theologian and a social thinker in his book, ‘No Salvation outside the Poor’ says: “The civilisation of wealth does not produce life; it produces death in diverse forms, to greater or lesser degrees.” Coronavirus is a form of death generated by the greed of the people. Perhaps God is angry on humanity which produces death through selfish ways. Perhaps the actions of human beings are in contrast to God’s law and natural ordering of God. The earth has been crying and the poor have been lamenting for the series of onslaughts upon them. At the present stage with the lockdown there is absence of pollution, cruelty, violence and greediness and the values of charity, helpfulness, sharing and dedication are conspicuous.
This disaster will change the face of the earth, heal it, renew and regenerate the human beings and obviously after learning a lesson from this disaster the humankind will reserve a primal place for God in its heart.
