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MEDITATION:

Written by Joanne Melton from the Village Church. 

When thinking about Pastor Jack’s topic of exile for the Lenten devotional, I thought I had an appropriate idea to share.  Then, on January 29, 2923, all of that changed. The Rev. Dr. Ivan Rusyn walked to the pulpit of The Village Church and graciously and humbly addressed our congregation.  His topic was the parable about “The Good Samaritan: A Ukrainian Reading  in the Light of War.”  But it was much, much more than that. You could hear the sadness in his words as he described the devastation, the ugliness of destruction, the emptiness in the eyes of his neighbors.     Despite all of that, he shared “that God always shows up where there is a problem.”  And “Jesus is present in those who offer to help, that they are like angels to them.”  Just as the Good Samaritan had done. His words, chosen so carefully, so passionately explained that in his country war had changed everything.  He asked, “How do we help?  What is our identity?”  The need to care for and love those in need came first.  As is found in Luke, “Be merciful as God is merciful.”

War is a time when you look inward.  You must personally reach into your heart and soul and say what have I to give and am I willing to give it?  It means sacrifice, and possibly the ultimate sacrifice of life. Rev. Dr. Rusyn left us with encouraging words about the people of Ukraine.  “We smile because we cried out all of our tears.  We smile because we have hope.  We ask not for peace, but for victory. We cannot be hostages of our trauma.” We can remove or exile ourselves from problems far away from us, or we can take a journey of faith and commitment to find our own way, perhaps through prayer, meditation, or study to become a Good Samaritan.

PRAYER:

Today’s prayer was written by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Lord Jesus,

You teach us in your parable that there are two kinds of people–
–those who bend down to help and those who look the other way.
Which kind of people will we be?

We say, “Yes, Lord, I will love you and love my neighbor.”
But then we ask:
The migrant… is she my neighbor?
Those in poverty…are they my neighbors?
Victims of war across the world… are they neighbors?
One who faces racism… is he my neighbor?
Those disabled or elderly… are they my neighbors?

You remind us: Yes. All of us neighbors.

Show us how to love, Lord.
May we open our eyes.
May we emerge from our comfortable isolation.
May we build a world of compassion and dignity.

Lord Jesus, who was neighbor to all,
Help us to persevere in love.
Help us to restore dignity to the suffering.

Help us to build a society based not on exclusion, but on community. Amen.