His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me (Song of Songs 2:6)

In 1944 an experiment was held in the US which involved 40 newborn infants. 20 of them we raised in a special facility in which they were cared for in their basic needs only: food, bath and changing of diapers… but nothing else. The nurses were forbidden to touch them more than the minimum required for these ordinary actions. After four months, half of the kids had died being still physically healthy. Some others would die shortly after the halt of the experiment.



The other 20 babies instead, were raised in another facility, taken care of and given all the affection and physical contact they needed. None of them died.

This sad story teaches us that as humans we are made for connection, contact, emotional exchange and share. These things are not superfluous, we can simply not survive without them.

And I think that this is why, during this terrible COVD-19 pandemic we feel so deeply sad and unsatisfied, because we are being deprived of the most basic of our needs: human contact.

Some days ago I saw a picture in a newspaper, taken in an Italian hospital, in which nylon curtains were installed in order to allow people to “embrace” each other. In the picture I saw an old mother clinging to her daughter’s cheek through the mediation of some plastic material. It was heartbreaking. I so much identified with this deep drive toward a beloved one, with this desire for a physical contact to let the magic flow of life happen. I thought of all those who live their lives alone, abandoned or forgotten… those people’s lives for whom Covid-19 hasn’t changed much, since they have always been in lockdown. I thought of those poor people who are incapable of communicating their feelings and keep them all inside or just postpone… Those who, all the time, regret renouncing the beautiful privilege of saying: “I love you”, “I miss you”, “I am sorry”…

I thought of those who have lost a beloved one being distant, for one reason or another and are now tormented by the feeling that “If only…”. I thought of those who died alone, separated from their dearest ones in the most solemn moment in a man’s life…



And I wanted to cry.

Help us, our Father, to be mindful of the shortness of our life. Teach us to live it intensely and meaningfully. Help us not to take anything for granted. Help us to say what we mean, to mean what we say, and not to say it mean. Teach us, God of life, God of love to be channels of love every day of our lives. Take from us any fear, embarrassment, hesitance or shame. Let us express the deepest vocation we all share: to love and to receive love.