Dear St. Paul Family and Friends,

You are very well aware of what is happening in Ukraine. News channels give us gruesome scenes of explosions and attacks every day. Numerous innocent lives are lost. Cities, homes and properties are destroyed. People are displaced and are fleeing their country. Peace is gone. I am very sure that the anxiety that we feel when we watch the news is nothing compared to what the citizens of Ukraine feel on the ground.

Our religious order, the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, work in six different places in Ukraine, both in the East and in the West: Zaporizhzhia, Nikopol’, Kryvyi Rih, Brailiv, Busk, and Lanovychi. We have 11 confreres who work there and they have all decided to stay and help the people. Every day, they are confronted with the tragedies that the war brings. Fr. Tomas Krzeminski, MS shared to us:

“Even though it is already the eighth year of war in Ukraine, in which people are routinely killed, it is only the dramatic events of the last few days that have disillusioned all skeptics. Open warfare, bombs fall on cities, tanks crossing the country’s borders, general panic, empty store shelves, queues for miles at petrol stations, difficulties in withdrawing cash at ATMs or problems with mobile phone networks: this is the reality of Ukraine today… February 24, 2022 is one of the darkest dates in recent decades. Most of our eastern neighbors have been awakened from their beds by the sound of rocket explosions and alarm sirens.

Many of you are asking how you can help. The greatest need is prayer for peace. Money is also needed to buy food, medicine, clothes, bandages, and to help women and children from the war zone.”

Our Bishop Alberto Rojas invites us to stand in solidarity with Ukraine. “Our Ukrainian brothers and sisters join us as part of the Body of Christ, so we take up their wounds and suffering in solidarity with them in this moment of darkness. Let us also pray for all those in power, that they may experience a conversion that leads them to honor the dignity of every life and to depart from acts of war and violence in their decision making.”

We, at St. Paul, will continue to pray for Ukraine and for the restoration of peace in the world. I invite you to offer your sacrifices this Lenten season for this particular intention. Pray the rosary or the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. Contribute to the second collection this weekend. Be still before the Blessed Sacrament, for “in the silence of the heart, God speaks.” (Mother Teresa)