Bishop Kurt’s note on the war in Ukraine.
March 3, 2022
Glory to Jesus Christ!
My dear friends in the Faith,
As everyone else, I am horrified and sorrowful about the brutal invasion of the Ukrainian nation. Many people in our church have immediate family in bomb shelters in the most dangerous cities right now, not knowing if they will live to see tomorrow. The invasion brings back memories, even recent memories of the Soviet persecution of the Church and of all society just thirty years ago. Countless people were murdered or sent to Siberia simply for worshipping God, or for being perceived as a political threat to someone in power.
I love Russia and my many dear Russian friends, yet I do not have any illusions about what an occupation is like under the current government in the Kremlin.
What can we do to help immediately with the situation in Ukraine? The most important thing to do is repent and pray. Go to confession. Fast this Lent. Ask God for mercy. As Jesus said, “First take the plank from your own eye, then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
In his Epistle, St. James says, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you tells him, ‘Go in peace. Stay warm and well-fed,‘ but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? So faith without works is dead.” James 2:17-18.
How can we help with the physical needs? With the consent of the finance council, I have already sent $25,000 to CNEWA, a Catholic relief service which was the one recommended by the Ukrainian bishops in Canada. I spoke to our own bishop in Ukraine, Bishop Nil Luschak. He and the priests are preparing for refugees, buying food, medicine, and sleeping bags, and so on. They are preparing our seminary there as a refugee center as well.
In addition, our Metropolitan Archbishop William Skurla has asked that we take a collection on the third Sunday of Lent. That money will be sent there to care for refugees, and indeed all of the people there who will suffer soon from the destruction of the society by war.
While we do what we can here, it doesn’t seem like enough. However, the people there have asked us to pray, and they say that our prayers and support mean so very much to them.
In humility and with prostrations we cry out, through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Christ our True God have mercy on us!
Your servant,
Bishop Kurt Burnette