Pope Francis recalls suffering in Ukraine and Holy Land
The above is the Vatican News headline for its report on the Pope's address delivered at his General Audience earlier today, Ash Wednesday (see here ). "Today, as Lent begins," he said, "let us prepare to journey through this time as an opportunity for conversion and inner renewal, in listening to the Word of God, in caring for our brothers and sisters, who are in great need. Here, let us never forget the poor people of Ukraine, Palestine, and Israel, who suffer so much. Let us pray for these brothers and sisters who suffer from war. Let us continue our help and intensify prayer, especially to request the gift of peace in the world".
In Ireland of old, great emphasis was placed on giving up things for Lent. In these days what comes most readily to mind is lightening the burden of those bowed down in whatever small way we can. Yes, as we consider the world around us, what we see can get us all down, so mind-numbing is it. We who have just exited our decade of centenaries bringing back all the killing of WWI, our War of Indepen- dence and our Civil War now see (if not, thankfully, at home) senseless war still raging -- even in the Holy Land. Our one prayer, then, today and for the next forty days, has to be that some way through and out of all the seemingly unstoppable killing be found and agreed on by the shaking of hands. And here I think of the play Three Sisters (1901) by that noble Russian writer -- one of the many in his country in times past -- Anton Chekhov. At the very end of a play which included gunshots and death, the sisters come to the front to utter what we could call not just their own but all of humanity's half-prayer, half-desperate cry about human affairs and where at all they are going: "If only we knew why we live, why we suffer! If only we knew!"
