A call is being made by Roman Catholic Archbishop Jason Gordon for the Roman Catholic community to commence their Lenten journey with a prayer for an end to the deadly conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Gordon made the plea while officiating Ash Wednesday mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in San Fernando on Wednesday.
“We turn our eyes from the peril of this world, from the peril of our nation, from the peril of Ukraine, we turn our eyes to the loving gaze of God and we ask God to bring peace to our world.”
Ukraine, which is under a deadly attack after a Russian invasion, became the cornerstone of this year’s Ash Wednesday message.
“We find ourselves plunged into a world of fragility that we’ve not known for a long time.”
Gordon said the conflict threatened the fabric of world peace and follows the shadow cast by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When a major country that has nuclear arms goes to red alert with nuclear armament, you know things are not the same as we know them before. This has not happened in my lifetime and this is the most fragile we have been at peace in my lifetime.”
Gordon also said transgressions here at home should not be forgotten because of the international hostilities.
“If the war in Ukraine is not enough, the high violence we’ve been seeing, the house break-ins and the car robbings that we’ve been seeing is saying to us that our safety is not in our hands anymore.”
For those still questioning how we may have gotten to a state of disorder on a global scale, the Archbishop shared his speculation, pointing to growing selfishness.
“Our eyes are looking at ourselves and what we want and what we need and what we desire and our eyes are not looking at the lord who made heaven and earth.”
The Archbishop pleaded with churchgoers to repent, return to the Lord and continue praying for peace throughout lent and beyond.
