EDITORIAL: "In God we trust" (09/23/01)

EDITORIAL

"In God we trust"

This week The Ukrainian Weekly offers a guest editorial: the pastoral message issued in the wake of the terrorist attack on the United States by Metropolitan-Archbishop Stefan Soroka, leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States.

We all share an unusual heaviness and sadness in our hearts and feelings of shock because of the acts of terrorism that have occurred this past week in our nation. Thousands of innocent lives have been impacted. Many lost their lives or were hurt in the buildings that were struck down. Others lost their lives in the airplanes hijacked for use in terrorism. Many others sacrificed their lives in their desire to help and save those hurt and trapped in the buildings affected. Other innocent victims include families and friends of these victims, including children who have been orphaned.

All of us are left with the feeling of having been violated, assaulted, and without the safety and security we have come to enjoy and expect. We wonder what we are to do, and how we can help.

Our faith leads us to offer our genuine feelings of sadness, hurt, anger, confusion, as well as concern for the many victims to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Any burden should not be borne alone, but entrusted to our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Entrust yourself to pray for the souls of all the victims, for the forgiveness of our sins, and for God's mercy upon them, that they may enter into His merciful kingdom. Pray for the families of the victims of this tragedy, that they come to know God's presence, His companioning walk with them in their loss, His love and comfort for them. Pray for all those who so generously have given and will give of themselves to assist those in need of their professional help. Pray for strength and God's blessings upon the many health, government and public officials who devoted and will devote extraordinary energy and dedication in the service of those afflicted.

Allow your faith to help you arise and generously give of yourself in your love of your fellow person in need. Give the gift of life by donating blood in local blood drives. Give the gift of support and compassion in volunteering to serve families and people affected by this tragedy. Give the gift of a listening ear to many of those needing to be helped through feelings of shock and hurt. Choose to gather with others in prayer and be of mutual encouragement and hope in your churches and within organizations. Allow yourselves to grieve the loss with others, and share it with Jesus.

Those and other actions reflect our hope as followers of Jesus Christ, a hope that is especially needed at such times of tragedy and hurt. Christians are called to be primary instruments of hope and comfort to our fellow brothers and sisters of America, as opposed to being avenues of despair and calls for tribulation. It is in such times as these that the true nature of each of us is revealed to our brothers and sisters in our communities of America.

Choose to be messengers of compassion and hope, providing all that we most need at this time. God will be at our side to guide and comfort us, and to bless us in ways only He can as we come to cope with this tragedy.

I entrust all of our sorrows and hurts to our Blessed Mother, Mary, who enwraps her omophor/mantle of loving, maternal protection around us, hearing our intercessions, seeing our tears, feeling our confusion. She knew and experienced all these at the foot of the cross of Jesus, yet she gently leads us to our hope in our Resurrected Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Know of our prayers and the prayers of our entire Church for all the victims of this tragedy, for all those affected and for our entire nation, the United States of America. Let us go forward remembering that "In God we trust."

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