I can’t recall how many times I’ve said it to someone myself or heard it: How much longer until we get back to normal? I can’t wait for this to be behind us and for things to return to normal!

It’s understandable, of course. We’re tired of the quarantining, the tragic loss of life and jobs. The severely diminished opportunities to connect with others. We’re ready for it all to be over.

And while it will certainly be a good thing when we’re through this, we can all say, amidst the chaos and stress, we have learned to cherish our families and loved ones. I can say, I’ve gained a new perspective. 

Despite social distancing, this time has allowed me the opportunity to cherish and build up relationships. For the first couple of months of the pandemic, I lived alone in a city where I knew practically no one. It forced me to connect more deeply with my family spread all over the country and inspire me to connect more regularly with certain friends. Without the pandemic, I don’t think I would have experienced this level of appreciation I now have for these certain relationships.

It’s started making me think about my time—what I had and what I have left of it. 

I recently heard a priest talk about how this can be a needed time for us to focus on our interior lives—a hiatus from the busyness of life that can detract from communing with God. Even the many things that filled up our days before this pandemic—work, social engagements, volunteer activities, etc.—though good, may have just been things we were doing “just because.” 

With all of the extra time I suddenly had during COVID restrictions, I found myself spending more of it in prayer. Without as many engagements and activities, I had more time to prayerfully reflect on my life: my dreams, fears, and hopes for the future. 

Not only did this extra time allow me to connect more regularly with God, but it also helped me consider what aspects of my “old” life I really was all that rushed to get back to. What was truly fruitful? What was meaningful?

Was I busy just for the sake of being busy and without any real direction or purpose? Was I missing the richness by being caught up in routines? Was I really taking advantage of my gifts and using them to help draw others closer to God? Was I attending Mass and praying merely out of obligation as opposed to a way to truly connect better with God? How present was I actually with my loved ones, even back when I could more easily and freely spend time with them?  Was I taking the time to do the things that mattered?  

At the heart of it, was I living the full life that God intends for me? 

In asking myself these questions about my life, I realized there were certain things I didn’t actually want to go back to normal. 

I wanted to hold onto my deepened appreciation for relationships, my setting time aside to pray more and visit the Blessed Sacrament, and letting go of expectations about the future (as we have learned, no one knows what the future actually holds). I had rediscovered things that really matter to me and actually brought me life. 

There were a lot of good things pre-pandemic, of course. But I also think this moment is an opportunity. It would be unfortunate if I didn’t allow the suffering and insight gained from this last year to incur any lasting change in my life. It would be unfortunate if I let myself fall back into doing things that didn’t truly bring life or fulfillment.   

I don’t want to just get back to normal. I want to get back to a richer, more rewarding normal. 

So what needs to change when we eventually get through the pandemic? 

In what ways were we just going through the motions? 

In what ways were we actually unhappy or disappointed with life? 

What did we take for granted—being able to participate in the sacraments, spending time with friends, working alongside coworkers, sitting in a coffee shop—that we can embrace with renewed gratitude? 

Most importantly, in what ways is God calling us to be more intentional in faith and in life? Because I believe on the other side of every one of those questions is God, holding something specifically for us that is far better than we might have had before. 

As we look forward to the end of this unprecedented and challenging season, may we take the time to prayerfully discern how Christ has something better than “normal” in mind for each one of us.

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