Holy, Holy, Holy God of life, justice, and love, You who hear the cries of the suffering and remain faithful, We come before You in prayer, united with our brothers and sisters in Christ—those near to us and those across Canada.
Today we lift before You, with particular urgency, the people of Ukraine: women, men, elders, and children created in Your image and likeness, now enduring the suffering of war, trauma, and grief.
We lift before You the children who have been forcibly taken from their families. Protect them, preserve their identity, and bring them home. We remember also prisoners of war, held in captivity and far from comfort and care. Be near to them, strengthen them, and guard their lives. We remember Your Church—its clergy and faithful, worshipping under threat. Sustain them in courage, witness, and hope.
We commend to Your compassionate mercy the land of Ukraine itself—its cities, villages, and homes, its rivers, fields, mountains and seas—part of your beautiful world now scarred by violence, destruction, and loss.
God of justice and truth, we pray for a just and sustainable peace and for righteousness and justice to prevail over evil and hatred.
Bring an end to this war, bring peace, justice and healing to Ukraine. And turn the hearts of those who perpetrate this war toward repentance and restoration.
In these days of lament, O Lord, we live in hope that you will strengthen Your Church with your holy faithfulness and creativity to act with compassion, courage, and generosity as instruments of your active healing.
Grant that we might participate with all that we are in the beating of swords into ploughshares so that for all people and creation justice will roll down like water and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream. This we pray in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen
On the weekend an annual event called Savour the Chill took place in downtown Belleville involving restaurants competing with their best soups. In the end both the judges and the "peoples choice" included The Kefana in the top three. The Kefana is a Ukrainian restaurant which has established its presence in the past few years and is also contracted to provide meals for the outreach program in the downtown. The restaurant is a strong supporter of Ukrainian culture and independence in light of what is now a brutal four-year attempt at invasion by Russia.
We know that along with a long history of Ukrainian presence in Canada there are many people who fled the country to other nations because of the war, including here. The estimate is six million displaced citizens in total, some who now hope to take up permanent residence in Canada while others who hope to return someday.
World Central Kitchen volunteers dole out bowls of hot stew to Ukrainians without heat thanks to Russia’s targeting of energy infrastructure. Caitlin Doornbos/NY Post
On this fourth anniversary of the conflict we can join in the prayer from the Canadian Council of Churches to mark this solemn occasion. Russia is waging a military assault on many fronts and is using drones and missiles to destroy sources of heat and light for millions of civilians. The brutality is stunning and democratic nations must continue to support the people of Ukraine.
We can also pray that 300,000 displaced Ukrainians living here under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel program. are allowed to renew permits which begin expiring late next month.
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