February 24 will mark a somber anniversary—three years since the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine began.
In his sermon at the Ecumenical Prayer for Peace in Ukraine in Philadelphia, Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church writes:
It is a painful anniversary. Three years of death and destruction, struggle and suffering, tears and sweat. Three harsh winters. Three scorching summers. Power outages and blackouts. Strikes on civilians. Attacks on infrastructure. Our people, our cities, our land bear deep wounds. . .
. . . We want peace. Every Ukrainian longs for peace—for nights without air raid sirens, for mornings without explosions, for days without casualties and nights without fear. But a ceasefire is not peace, and a political deal cannot bring justice. A truce that leaves people suffering under occupation is a cruel mockery. Without justice, peace is impossible—it becomes an illusion, a hollow promise.
Ukrainians yearn for a just and lasting peace. A peace that not only stops the bloodshed but also restores dignity and freedom for all. . .
. . . What sustains us? What keeps us from falling?
The Primate concludes his sermon by saying that what has sustained the people of Ukraine and kept them from falling are "the millions of people around the world, who pray for and support them, who believe that goodness and truth have their own divine power, and evil, lies and death will never have the final word."
You are invited to come and join in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as we sing and worship as an act of resistance against the forces of darkness and pray with hope for a just and lasting peace for the people who call Ukraine home.