What strikes me the most about all this virus’ matter is SILENCE. A silence that pervades our streets, squares,cities,parks,beaches, the pizzerias and the bars, all closed and out of business. POPE FRANCIS has celebrated a ceremony at SAINT PETER’S SQUARE, a blessing for the City and the WHOLE WORLD (URBI ET ORBI in LATIN). What was really odd was the absolute desert, the absence of people in the enormous basin that is usually packed with people.

Amidst that silence under pouring rain, un front of the the very Crucifix that once saved the city of Rome from the plague of XVI Century, a SILENT POPE prayed. He blessed the world without saying a single word. In a THUNDERING SILENCE broken only by the noise of the rain pouring down Jesus’ chest as if He were crying Himself for Humanity.

Before the blessing, He read a passage from the New Testament that reported of a boat. A boat in which Jesus and His Apostoli were sailing in calm waters. Jesus was sleeping in the back portion of the boat. This is the only time that Jesus sleeps in the New Testament. The Apostoli represents the People of the World. All of a sudden a great storm comes their way.. the wind blows, the boat rocks dangerously on the waves. Jesus keeps on sleeping. Peter decides to wke Him up ” “Lord, you don’t care about us?” A distracted humanity. Distracted and scared that in time of need remembers to pray to a Higher Authority that could help to pass this time of fear , this time of death. Many have discovered the meaning of prayer in these weeks. A prayer that comes from the heasrt, not necessarely made of a repetitive formula but a colloquial conversation between a person that pleads his/her Father for help. For non-believers I can only wish that science will soon find an answer. In 1630 in VENICE while a terrible PLAGUE was decimating its citizens, they decide to ask the Madonna della Salute (Virgin of Health) to stop the PLAGUE. The PLAGUE did stop after a week they made that vow, and the Basilica della Madonna della Salute is still there 400 years later. Every year the Venetians build a temporary bridge connecting the downtown area to the island where the church stands in remembrance of that MIRACLE. Today when we speak about miracles the reaction is odd. People look at you as if you were a cave man. Is there today enough space in our hearts to believe that a MIRACLE 4.0 can still be possible?

People here in Italy are referring to this world’s emergency as a WAR. I disagree with the word “war”. Certainly the impact that this VIRUS has brought to our world’s economy is that of a Third World War. The main difference is that during the two wars before this one, our fathers, grandfathers and great grand fathers were asked to leave their spouses, their parents, their loved ones for the front. Mothers and Wives that had to go to sleep at night not knowing if their men will ever return. THAT WAS WAR. Today with COVID-19 we are asked to stay inside our homes with plenty of food, heated homes and cable television, WIFI connection and our children in most of the cases are with us, or at least we know their whereabouts. Our sacrifice is minimal . We are asked to STAY AT HOME and yet we complain that we feel prisoners in our own homes. The real FRONT LINE is not at our homes, in in the hospitals, where our DOCTORS, NURSES are fighting without weapons to keep the wounded alive. Without weapons because if we were ready and able to go anywhere in the world and deploy our armed forces in a heartbit with the most sofisticated armaments, we are not ready to fight an invisible enemy that spreads as fast as the speed of light

A VIRUS that seems to be intelligent for he hides inside the human body for two weeks, while spreading itself to thousands other people because the carrier has no symptoms. Intelligent because it varies, it changes, attacking old people, as well as young , then again it changes again and againg leaving researches helpless in finding a cure.

Was it necessary to have a VIRUS to have less pollution, clearer waters on our rivers and oceans, less road accidents, less homicides and drug smuggling? If it were not for all those who lost their lives to this MONSTER, we could say that it was and it is a GOOD LESSON for Humankind. But we can’t. People are losing their lives and we must come together to fight this challange. All we can really do is STAY HOME. What will be after the health emergency will stop, nobody knows. I have a strong feeling that there will be changes, radical changes in the whole world. A new REINASSANCE awaits us but must be supported by a very strong econimic support of governments to the people, small business are really suffocating. They were before the VIRUS, at leats here in Europe. In Italy we have the stronger fiscal pressure than any other Country of the “OLD CONTINENT”. This must change, as well as the RED TAPE and CORRUPTION that has nested in almost every chain of command, like a cancer. Our leaders should be prepared to stop the “bleeding” once the VIRUS will go away, like all the PLAGUES we had to ride in our past. It will end, leaving millions of people expecting to see what their leaders will do to ease the financial and the social pain. After World War II the USA issued a plan, known as “MARSHALL PLAN”. We are going to need a new one, only that this time it will have to be applied globally. Once the COVID-19 will be harnessed (and it will be) We are all going to start a new ERA. Nothing will be the same, but it doesn’t have to be worst than before, it could be a lot better, but this is only up to us and the future generations (copyright – pio dal cin 2020)