Dear Friends,
This morning the world order looks and feels quite different. After months of intimidation and threats, Russia has invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked attack upon a neighboring sovereign nation of more than 41 million people. It is difficult to overestimate the suffering and loss of life such a war will create. We have not witnessed anything like this type of conflict on the European continent since World War II. When Vladimir Putin coldly reminds the world that Russia is a “nuclear power,” we understand the implied meaning of such a threat.
Christians are called to promote good and to denounce evil. There are many things in this world which are nuanced and ambiguous and very difficult to assess. And, there are other things in this world which deserve to be called clearly and precisely what they are. To put so many innocent lives at risk in order to expand an empire is evil in every sense of that word. True, the United States, along with most nations, has not always been blameless. Yet, it is our country that the rest of the world looks to when events of this magnitude take place. We will be called to speak truth to power and we will be given the opportunity to promote the good in the face of a monstrous evil. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) May we be children of God and advocates for peace and justice always.
I invite the St. Bart’s community to pray deeply in the midst of this crisis. Pray for the Ukrainian people, especially those who stand in harm’s way. Pray for the leaders of the nations that they will exercise wisdom and sound judgment in this perilous time. Pray for the peace which passes all understanding.
Saint Francis of Assisi is said to have been the author of this prayer:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. When there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Faithfully,
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe
Rector
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