Slideshow image

"You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it." - Ephesians 5:8-10 MSG

CIVILIANS KILLED BRUTALLY IN BUCHA, UKRAINE; WORLD WATCHES IN HORROR

Dozens of bodies, some with their hands bound, were discovered in towns near the Ukrainian capital after invading Russian troops retreated from the area. Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out the killings in towns near Kyiv, including in Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy branding Russian forces as “murderers, torturers and rapists” who were committing “genocide” in his country. While the bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces, one group of nine, all in civilian clothes, were scattered around a site that residents said Russian troops used as a base. They appeared to have been killed at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs and one of those was shot in the head; another’s legs were bound. As of Monday, The United States will ask the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council

There are no prayers for peace, as there is no peace, there is only death and atrocity. God, there are people in power who can stop this madness, this inhumanity. My prayers are not enough. On my knees I cry out to you. Move in the hearts of leaders, especially Vladimer Putin. God it's only your intervention that can stop this war. Come soon, Jesus Prince of peace.

POPE FRANCIS, AT CONVENING OF INDIGENOUS DELEGATES, APOLOGIZES, ASKS FOR FORGIVENESS

Pope Francis apologized on Friday for the conduct of some of members of the Roman Catholic church that were involved in a system of Canadian boarding schools that abused Indigenous children for 100 years and said he would travel to Canada as part of a process of healing and reconciliation. His apology comes after Canada was jolted last year by the discovery of evidence that more than 1,000 people, most of them children, were buried in unmarked graves on the grounds of some of the former schools. “I feel shame — sorrow and shame — for the role” that Catholics played “in the abuses you suffered and in the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values,” Francis said. Francis spoke during an audience at the Apostolic Palace with dozens of delegates from Canada’s three largest Indigenous groups, who had traveled to the Vatican in the hope that he would apologize to survivors in Canada. This was the first apology to the Indigenous people of Canada from a pope and was a reversal of Francis’s earlier position.

God, the process towards healing is long, and starts with honesty. We give you thanks for religious leaders willing to admit the wrongdoings of their ancestors,  leaders in hope of a brighter, more just tomorrow. We pray for the seeds of apology to take root, and pray for true justice in whatever form that takes.