Check out these recent articles on the coronavirus, solidarity, and the common good:

Spare a Moment for Sorrow by John Dickerson: “Ideally a public figure would use his platform, as heroic leaders have in the past, to set this tone. In the absence of that, perhaps we can all use our platforms, whether they be Twitter or the family text chain, to say what I have tried to say here: that we feel your loss and sorrow, even if words are too clumsy. And when words fail altogether, a moment of silence can say You’re not alone, even in a moment of deep loneliness. The test of a time like this is that it either drives us toward our common humanity, or it drives us apart. Let it be the former.”

Michael Sandel in ‘Finding the ‘Common Good’ in a Pandemic’: “Our lack of preparedness for the pandemic reveals the lack of solidarity in our social and political life, especially in our inadequate system of public health and lack of universal access to health care and paid sick leave. This makes the sudden, ritualistic invocation of the slogan “we’re all in this together” ring hollow.”

Screw This Virus! by David Brooks: “It will require a tenacious solidarity from all of us to endure the months ahead. We’ll be stir-crazy, bored, desperate for normal human contact. But we’ll have to stay home for the common good.”

Take time during coronavirus pandemic to reflect upon Christ’s command, Love Thy Neighbor by Elise Italiano Ureneck: “Throughout history, believers have found bold, creative and prophetic ways to demonstrate solidarity and communion with those on the physical or existential margins of society. This is such a moment.”

‘Give me liberty, or give me (grandma’s) death!’ by Michael Sean Winters: “After years of being told that all social justice issues must come second because “you cannot enjoy any other right unless you first enjoy the right-to-life,” now we are told that this is all sentimentalism.”

What do we learn from this place where we don’t want to be? by John Gehring: “I want to better appreciate how extraordinary, even sacred, the ordinary can be. Dinner with a friend, hugging my kids, the collective buzz of live music, or even the small pleasure of sipping coffee in a café surrounded by the familiarity of strangers are not things to take for granted when you’re reminded that life is fragile and fleeting. Gratitude is a grace.”

Catholic social teaching panel says coronavirus pandemic ‘a moral test’ by Christopher White: “While much is uncertain during this global health crisis, the belief that Catholic social thought requires valuing human life and dignity over economic concerns was the widespread consensus among Catholic leaders during an online forum convened by Georgetown University.”

The pandemic is about to devastate the developing world by Brian Klaas: “In the coming months, the coronavirus death tolls will be horrific. Yet, astonishing as it may seem to all of us living in lockdown, we are the lucky ones. In rich countries, it is likely that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, will die in the coming months. But if past pandemics are any guide, those numbers are likely to be a small fraction of the body count in the poorest parts of the globe. Every public health problem that we face will be far worse in the developing world.”