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Dear Parish Faithful,
"Put not your trust in princes, nor in sons of men, in whom there is no salvation." (Psalm 145:3 LXX)
"For the peace of the whole world ... " (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)
"Nothing is more contrary to God's will for creatures fashioned in his image and likeness than violence one against another, and nothing more sacrilegious than the organized practice of mass killing. All human violence is in some sense a rebellion against God and the divinely created order." (For the Life of the World - Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church)
The anticipated invasion of Ukraine - a sovereign country - by overwhelmingly superior Russian forces - is now underway. This invasion has nothing resembling a justifiable cause. Yet, leaving "politics" aside for the moment, we must acknowledge the grave "spiritual damage" this war will extract from its participants and for the entire world.
I am shaken by the spectacle of Orthodox Christians slaughtering one another. In fact, the strong historical, cultural and religious bonds of both countries has recently been stressed by the aggressors. As is well-known, Russia and Ukraine are both primarily Orthodox Christian countries. I am sure that the vast majority of the Russian armed forces - both men and women - are Orthodox Christians. Ukraine has a much larger Roman Catholic population than Russia, but Ukraine remains a predominantly Orthodox country (67% according to a recent survey). These soldiers will probably be "blessed" by a bishop or priest, together with their weapons, with Holy Water and then begin the carnage of killing one another. In fact, they may "prepare" for their war effort by first going to Confession and then receiving Communion. So, after being united in the common chalice as "brothers and sisters" in Christ, they will then go about the business of killing these very "brothers and sisters." And then there could be a horrific death toll among the innocent civilian population of Ukraine.
What a sad and tragic reality! The sheer madness of it is staggering: Praying to the "same God" for protection and victory in battle as Christians and then killing each other with impunity. I am certainly not implying that it is less sinful or spiritually devastating to kill non-Orthodox Christians or non-Christian peoples! But I am speaking as a member within the Orthodox Church and stressing the total incompatibility of the vision of life within the Church and its perversion in "real time."
We can only pray to God for peace and that the human suffering and death will be limited.
