Finding our humanity in a post-pandemic era means losing our ‘masks,’ reaching to others

Physicians have a unique view of the world. As an internal medicine doctor, I find myself 95 percent of the time being a sounding board for my patients and their human suffering. My small private medical practice in Northeast Philadelphia serves a community of mostly elderly people. Over the past 15 years, I have noticed my patients feeling more isolated and nameless as the world around them becomes more secular.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, this profound feeling of loneliness increased to an entirely new level. I witnessed my community’s sense of humanity slipping even further away.

We watched our communities and our country frantically stock up on masks and toilet paper while closing doors to homes, schools, and churches. Our communities appeared to place more faith in science and the media than in God. We saw firsthand the devastation that isolation and loneliness can have on the human spirit. One casualty I witnessed was our 106-year-old female patient, Raimunda, who passed away completely alone at a local nursing home. She did not die from Covid but from the loss of human contact with loved ones.

I began to ask, “How can we rehumanize our patients, our community, and our world?”

I started with prayer with a fervent desire to listen to the Holy Spirit. We tried, with God’s grace, to help as many people as we could with the tools we had. As soon as possible, we reopened our doors for in-office visits. Patients could see their family doctor in person even if, initially, they were six feet apart and wearing masks. It was a start.

God calls us to place humanity first when there is suffering. My office staff and I prayed together often for those who lost their lives or were sick with Covid. We humbly asked the Holy Spirit to guide us during the pandemic. We had faith we would eventually reach a safe harbor with God’s grace. We managed to keep many patients from entering the hospital for Covid-related pneumonia. We began treating post-viral fatigue syndrome and its symptoms very early during the pandemic, well before it had an official name. All these crises seemed to bring us closer to our Lord.

So how do we rehumanize the world? As we take off our masks and come out of isolation and quarantines, we still face the reality of our own “masks.” We need to identify them and eventually make peace with them. We will need to re-engage with one another and restore our humanity with each person we encounter.

Sometimes unfounded fears prevent us from doing the right thing, and we hide. We cannot hide behind a mask indefinitely; we need to reach out to strangers as well to friends and family. We can start by connecting with people wherever they are on their faith journey. Let us show them what humanity truly can be. Resist judging or rejecting others because of our pride or anger. Approach the next person with respect, kindness, and love. In our medical office, we strive to welcome each patient as an important guest with his or her own human dignity.

We all crave community and human connections. It is not always easy to connect with a stranger, but we can find strength and courage in praying the rosary. We desire forgiveness of our sins, moral courage, patience, and perseverance. Jesus Christ never said it would be easy. However, rehumanizing our world must begin with us.

The global pandemic turned the world upside down, but one thing remains constant: the love Jesus Christ has for us. Our Father, the Greatest Physician, can help us restore our humanity and faith here on Earth if we choose to follow Him.

MAX MERCADO, M.D., is a physician with a medical practice in Philadelphia, PA, and a past president of the Bucks County Chapter of Legatus. His wife, Isabel, assisted with this article.