CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE (2:02) – Almost 1,000 Catholic convents in Poland are helping refugees from Ukraine. The Council of Major Superiors of Congregations of Women Religious in Poland said on March 15 that sisters in 924 convents in Poland and 98 in Ukraine were offering “spiritual, psychological, medical, and material help.”

May 8, 2022

Surviving a World Beset with Problems

DIOCESE OF SACRAMENTO | 2022

We certainly live in troubled times. There is a great deal about which people can become discouraged and downhearted. Covid isolated and separated us – It has taken the lives of millions – Its variants continue to attack and disrupt lives. Our republic is no longer governed by leaders who serve the common good. Instead, they are owned and controlled by individuals and corporations. And these are made up of the rich and the powerful. We are overwhelmed by information – But we don’t really know what are truths, half-truths, or downright lies! There is even the prospect of a third World War – and the use of weapons of mass destruction! Millions are refugees from the criminal war in Ukraine – Millions of others face starvation in Africa because no wheat can be grown in Ukraine. Inflation is rampant in America – The dollar is worth only 64% of what it was in 2002 – And every one of us has the personal suffering and hardship that is part of the human condition!

APRIL 3, 2022

Chaos in Shelters for Ukrainian Refugees Increases Risk of Trafficking

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE – Chaos, disruption and the call to change our modus operandi seem to have characterised the dramas of the last few years. The protracted pandemic, the destructive weather events, the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine … These crises are symptoms of a deeper malaise, which requires not simply political, economic or medical intervention. Rather, as Pope Francis pointed out, humanity needs the courage to change direction.

These crises also have significance for the way we are being Church moving forward. While we yearn for familiarity and security, we must not allow ourselves to be unmoved by the signs of the times. We must not prefer certitude to the hard task of deep listening, discerning and aligning with the divine innovation. Like Israel of old, we must seek fresh ways of embodying God’s redeeming, forgiving and empowering love. The Church must not lose sight of the invitation to embark on a new adventure with God that is part of our DNA as a paschal people.

APRIL 3, 2022

HOMILY: Discerning A New Future in the Midst of Chaos

Diocese of Parramatta, Australia

Bishop Van Nguyen, OFM – Chaos, disruption and the call to change our modus operandi seem to have characterised the dramas of the last few years. The protracted pandemic, the destructive weather events, the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine … These crises are symptoms of a deeper malaise, which requires not simply political, economic or medical intervention. Rather, as Pope Francis pointed out, humanity needs the courage to change direction.

These crises also have significance for the way we are being Church moving forward. While we yearn for familiarity and security, we must not allow ourselves to be unmoved by the signs of the times. We must not prefer certitude to the hard task of deep listening, discerning and aligning with the divine innovation. Like Israel of old, we must seek fresh ways of embodying God’s redeeming, forgiving and empowering love. The Church must not lose sight of the invitation to embark on a new adventure with God that is part of our DNA as a paschal people.

MARCH 27, 2022

Enough. Stop!

POPE FRANICS (ANGELUS) – More than a month has gone by since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, since the beginning of this cruel and senseless war, that, like every war, represents a defeat for every one, for everyone of us. We need to reject war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where men kill their brothers and sisters without even having seen them, where the powerful decide and the poor die.

War does not devastate the present only, but the future of a society as well. I read that from the beginning of the aggression in Ukraine, one out of every two children has been displaced from their country. This means destroying the future, causing dramatic trauma in the lives of the smallest and most innocent among us. This is the brutality of war — a barbaric and sacrilegious act! – READ MORE

MARCH 25, 2022 – Feast of the ANnunciation

A Ukrainian Catholic Artist Bringing Light to the Darkness | Behind The Canvas

GOOD CATHOLIC (9:10) – The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows us the darkness of this world, but an icon of the Annunciation by Ukrainian Catholic artist Ivanka Demchuk brings light into that pain.

MARCH 15, 2022

Fr. Mark Goring, CC – (10:45)

Pope Francis: A Final Catastrophe that could Extinguish Us

MARCH 15, 2022

Pope to consecrate Russia and Ukraine to Immaculate Heart of Mary

RELATED ARTICLE: What does our Lady of Fátima have to do with Russia and Ukraine (America Magazine)

MARCH 13, 2022

SAINT AUGUSTINE’S GRAHAME PARK  (11:05)

What is Our Responsibility in the Confilct in Ukraine? The Christian Response

MARCH 13, 2022

HOMILY: Powerlessness

DIOCESE OF SACRAMENTO | 2022

2nd Sunday of Lent – When Russian President Putin invaded Ukraine, no one was surprised. He had prepared for that invasion for months. And very little was done to dissuade or deter him! Lord Acton once said: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely…” Edmund Burke, the Great British statesman, observed: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Albert Einstein, after the Holocaust of World War II, said: “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” What is so utterly tragic about the current war in Ukraine is that the rich and the powerful of the world are profiting from it. The financial markets continue to climb – Oil prices continue to rise – The military industrial complex gets richer – And oligarchs control the politics everywhere!

MARCH 8, 2022

HOMILY: Holy Hour For Ukraine

CATHOLIC CWMBRAN (4:52) – Reflection from the Holy Hour for Ukraine.

MARCH 8, 2022

Throughout history, Ukrainian Catholics have been a ‘Church of martyrs’

CRUX NEWS – Calling the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) a Church of martyrs is not, by any means, an exaggeration.

In the Soviet era, the UGCC was the largest illegal religious body in the world and suffered mightily for it; most experts believe the total number of Greek Catholics who perished in that era of violent oppression is in the thousands… Over 3,000 priests died in the gulags, and by the time Ukraine regained its independence, only 300 were left, and not all of them in Ukraine.

The legendary Ukrainian Cardinal Josef Slipyi, who spent two decades in the gulags, once said that his church had been buried under “mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.” During his 2001 visit to Ukraine, John Paul II beatified 27 Greek Catholic martyrs under the Soviets — one of whom had been boiled alive, another crucified in prison, and a third bricked into a wall.

MARCH 6, 2022

HOMILY: We are At War

NOTRE DAME de LOURDES (6:59)

1st Sunday of Lent

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

HOMILY: ‘I’m British by Birth, but
Ukrainian in Spirit’

Archbishop John Wilson (Archdiocese of Southwark)

The news and images from Ukraine in recent days are truly devastating. Our eyes are filled with tears; tears of anguish and tears of sorrow. Our hearts are heavy, weighed down with immeasurable sadness. God’s plan for his people is peace, not disaster, not war. But peace in Ukraine has been stolen and the consequences are disastrous.

Before I say anything else, it is so important for you to know, dear brothers and sisters from Ukraine – and for your fellow countrymen and woman suffering in your beloved homeland – that we stand with you. We stand with you shoulder to shoulder, heart to heart, and soul to soul. We stand with you in undivided solidarity, as must every person and nation that believes in peace.

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

Cardinal Blase Cupich at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral

CATHOLIC CHICAGO (3:31) – Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, joined Bishop Benedict Aleksiychuk as the Ukrainian Catholic Church offers a Divine Liturgy for Peace in Ukraine at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral on Sunday, February 27.

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FEBRUARY 27, 2022

Praying for Ukraine

“I have to be honest: This isn’t the homily I was planning to preach this weekend—But Wednesday changed everything”

Deacon Greg Kandra

We’ve seen the pictures, heard the bulletins, watched the reporters on TV wearing helmets and bright blue vests marked PRESS. We’ve seen the tanks rolling toward Kyiv and the cars lined up for miles trying to get out of the country. We’ve seen the images of mothers desperate to leave on foot, pushing their children in strollers through the cold. We’ve watched artillery fire light up the night sky and we’ve heard the explosions, and we’ve felt our lips form the words, “Oh my God.”

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RELATED PAGES:

• Peace and Justice in Ukraine (8:11) – Bishop Burbidge’s Homily for Mass for For Peace and Justice in Ukraine and Throughout the World Saint Thomas More Cathedral Arlington, VA February 28, 2022
• Ash Wednesday in a Time of War | Christianity Today
• Why We Should Be “Sober-Minded and Alert” About the Ukrainian Invasion