Greetings!
Our Parish Praying and Fasting For Ukraine
All of our hearts are breaking for the people of Ukraine, especially when we see the images of the bombed out buildings, smoldering rubble, and refugees fleeing to somewhere else, anywhere else. As we listen to the news of Vladimir Putin’s war machine ravaging cities, we feel helpless when facing that kind of evil. Despite the distance, our empathy causes us to ache; we don’t like the frustration of feeling helpless.
There is a story In the Gospels where the disciples were frustrated that they unable to cast a demon out of a boy who was possessed. After Jesus had healed the boy, He explained, “this kind can only come out through prayer and fasting” (Mt 17:21).
In the face of great evil – like an unjust war – we so often feel frustrated and helpless. However, with this Gospel story in mind, it is possible to apply the same united principle of prayer and fasting, imploring Jesus to drive out the evil intentions of Putin and his henchmen to bring an end to the violence. Prayer and fasting are two of the three characteristic disciplines of Lent, the third being almsgiving. Inspired by stories in the Gospel and applying the principles of Lent, I would like to invite parishioners to join me in weaving together three-fold disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving into one event to imploring God’s grace to flow into country and people of Ukraine.
Specifically, the invitation is for Wednesday, March 23rd:
• Prayer: attend the 6 PM Mass and the following Eucharistic Holy Hour from 6:30 – 7:30, during which the Rosary will be recited.
• Fasting: during that day, fast strictly on only bread and water in solidarity with the refugees and their children. Challenging, yes, but it still may be more than what they get to eat.
• Almsgiving: guesstimate whatever you would normally spend on food that day, and make a donation in that amount to provide assistance to the refugees. Donations can be submitted electronically here, or in person at a collection during the Mass, and will be directed to Catholic Relief Services, which already has refugee support networks in place in Ukraine, Poland, and bordering countries.
Participating in this event of fasting and prayer for Ukraine may be an uncomfortable sacrifice for some, but the amount of suffering we will willingly undertake Wednesday is quite small in comparison to that of the refugees. Additionally, any sacrifice of prayer, fasting, or almsgiving (or all three) undertaken during Lent brings us closer to Jesus. Through our willingness to enter into His Passion in this way, we come to recognize Jesus present in the Ukrainian refugees, and then become like Simon of Cyrene as we help them to carry their crosses. And through this participation in the Cross, we pray that our merciful God may guide us through this dark night and give to the world a new light of hope to end this suffering and bring about restoration, peace, and new life.
