John 16:20-23

Millions of people worldwide are currently practicing social distancing and are under stay-at-home orders by their local governments in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. This has led to a flurry of lovely, homemade, self-crafted window displays, all leaving a strong message of hope. I am sharing with you an image here of a window made by two young sisters, Josephine, 5, and Nora, 2, living in Michigan, USA. Their mother said she wanted to "bring love and joy to essential workers" in their neighbourhood. So it is with us at the moment with the pandemic, that we may be somewhat sad now to be in lockdown, but soon our hearts will be full of joy again when we can all meet again. As per today's Gospel reading: So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy.

With kids being at home, it is great to see their own artistic creativity flow. By simply grabbing pencils, crayons, paint, glue, glitter, scissors, the sparks of imagination and inspiration in children to create their own little artworks can flourish. When reading biographies of artists over the years, nearly all the artists refer to their childhood and how they already, from a very young age, started to paint, draw and create. The need to create and the joy of creating was instilled in them from a young age… Who knows, our two girls Josephine and Nora, might be future artistic stars… But for now, we simply enjoy and delight in their beautiful window display.