Posted on 02/23/2022 8:22:38 PM PST by UMCRevMom@aol.com
His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, has appealed to Ukraine’s Catholics at home and abroad, and to all people of goodwill, to pray “for those who defend Ukraine” and to “actively work to avert war and protect a just peace.”
“I call upon all people of goodwill to not ignore the suffering of the Ukrainian people, brought on by Russian military aggression. We are a people who love peace. And precisely for that reason, we are ready to defend it and fight for it.”
You can read the full text of His Beatitude Sviatoslav’s appeal below. Day of Prayer and Fasting
As we start the prayerful season of Lent, Pope Francis has declared Ash Wednesday, 2 March, as a day of prayer and fasting for Ukraine. The Holy Father says his heart aches over the situation in Ukraine.:
Dear Brothers and Sisters, The recognition by the president of the Russian Federation of the “independence and sovereignty” of the self-proclaimed LNR and DNR creates serious challenges and threats for the entire international community and for international law, on the basis of which today people and their nations exist and cooperate.
Irreparable damage has been done to the very logic of international relations, which are called to safeguard peace and the just order of societies, the supremacy of law, the accountability of state powers, the defence of the human being, human life and natural rights. Today all of humanity has been placed in danger—that the powerful have a right to impose themselves on whomever they wish, with no regard for the rule of law.
In its decision the government of the Russian Federation unilaterally withdrew from a lengthy peace process, tasked with ensuring the restoration of dignified conditions for life on the territories controlled by Russia in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, for those impacted by Russian military aggression.
The war, initiated against our people in 2014, has inflicted deep wounds on many of our fellow citizens: thousands killed, wounded, left in solitude.
Monday’s step taken by the president of the Russian Federation destroyed foundational principles for a long-term process of restoring peace in Ukraine, created the path for a wave of military aggression against our state, opened the doors for a full scale military operation against the Ukrainian people.
We consider the defense of our native land, our historical memory and our hope, our God-given right to exist to be the personal responsibility and sacred duty of the citizens of Ukraine. The defence of our Fatherland is our natural right and civic duty. We are strong when we are together. Now has come the time to unite our efforts in order to defend the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Ukrainian state. The duty and responsibility of all of humanity—to actively work to avert war and protect a just peace.
We are convinced that the world cannot develop and find answers for the challenges of today by resorting to might and violence, by showing disdain for shared human values and the truth of the Gospel. I call upon all people of good will to not ignore the suffering of the Ukrainian people, brought on by Russian military aggression. We are a people who love peace. And precisely for that reason we are ready to defend it and fight for it.
Today we call out in prayer to the Almighty Creator, with a special appeal for wisdom for those entrusted with making important decisions for society, in whose hands lies the fate of humanity. We ask the Heavenly Father for assistance in restoring a just peace on Ukrainian land. We pray especially for those who defend Ukraine, who in these days are for us an example of loving sacrifice and dedicated service to their people. May the merciful Lord protect them from every danger and crown their efforts with the victory of truth and good.
We call for the gracious blessing of a loving God and Creator upon Ukraine and its people!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you.
+Sviatoslav
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When that happens, I find it to be a "happy accident" (to borrow a phrase from the Western Paschal Vigil Exultet) that the Old Testament Lesson for the Wednesday of Orthodox Cheesefare Week aligns almost precisely with the Old Testament reading for Western Ash Wednesday:
Joel 2:12-26
"Yet even now," says the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil. Who knows whether he will not turn and repent, and leave a blessing behind him, a cereal offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.
Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, "Spare thy people, O Lord, and make not thy heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"
Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people. The Lord answered and said to his people, "Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.
"I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his front into the eastern sea, and his rear into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.
"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit, the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
"Be glad, O sons of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord, your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.
"The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years which the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.
"You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame."
God ain’t no help now. Putin should pay for it with his life. How do you make peace or a ceasefire contingent on the Russians killing their own leader.
Putin has said he would defend Christians anywhere in the world; even if it is BS, could you imagine an American leader saying that?
LVIV, Ukraine - As rumors of war plague Ukraine, the Christians of this country are watching and praying to God for their future.
Undeterred by western warnings of an imminent invasion by the Russian regime, Gennady Mohnenko and local pastors met for a time of prayer at the foot of a cross that overlooks the Sea of Azov in Ukraine’s eastern city of Mariupol.
Just five miles from them is the frontline of an ongoing war of Russian aggression that has killed some 14,000 people since 2014. And now with 150,000 Russian troops amassed along the border, Ukrainians know the threat from Moscow looms larger than ever.
This morning, Moscow claims military drills in Russia-annexed Crimea have ended. State television showed images of military units crossing a bridge in Crimea. The West remains skeptical, and some are calling the images a ruse.
Russia’s president is demanding security guarantees from the West, including a pledge to never allow Ukraine to join NATO - an issue he told Germany’s chancellor he wants resolved immediately.
Meanwhile, Ukraine was hit by a cyberattack on early Tuesday that briefly caused outages at national banks and the Ministry of Defense. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the hacking incident, but it reportedly caused serious damage.
With the potential of conflict still in the air, Ukraine’s president has declared Wednesday – the day some suggested a Russian invasion could happen – a day of unity.
He’s called on his countrymen to display the national flag and wear blue and yellow ribbons, representing the colors of the flag, as a way to show the country’s united resolve in the face of looming threats.
Then why is he attacking fellow Orthodox Christians in Ukraine?
His mother might be of Jewish ethnic descent, however she was not religiously a Jew. And Pootie isn’t Jewish by religion
I don’t know; I can’t read that. Would clarify why he used a term like “denazification”, though...
“Then why is he attacking fellow Orthodox Christians in Ukraine?”
Is he? The Orthodox are primarily in the east, while the Catholic population is generally in the west of the country; I believe that is part of the historical issue involved here.
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