Isaiah 62: 1-7
1 For Zion's sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, Until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch.
2 Nations shall behold your vindication, and all kings your glory; You shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.
3 You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem held by your God.
4 No more shall men call you "Forsaken," or your land "Desolate," But you shall be called "My Delight," and your land "Espoused." For the LORD delights in you, and makes your land his spouse.
5 As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; And as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.
6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have stationed watchmen; Never, by day or by night, shall they be silent. O you who are to remind the LORD, take no rest
7 And give no rest to him, until he re-establishes Jerusalem And makes of it the pride of the earth.
Dear brothers and dear sisters,
tonight we are here, and we needed to go back to listening to the Word of God because the horizon is dark. We have almost forgotten that all peoples are destined to peace, especially the Ukrainian people, that for two years, since the Russian invasion, have not known a day of peace.
And I greet the many Ukrainians who are present here and those who are now connected with us. I do it with deep love, with deep spirit of participation in a tragedy that has been going on for two years. Indeed, we need to come back to the visions of the prophet Isaiah, to the wise visions of the Bible, to broaden our eyes towards peace. Peace to which all peoples are destined, even Ukraine, especially Ukraine.
The Word of God is a lamp in the dark that lights a light of peace, because today peace seems to be just a far memory. It is so in the tragedy of the bombing, in the tragedy of the fighting, but it is also so in the mentality and culture of too many people, who are those who make the decisions of politics or opinionists, people who have assumed that the war will continue, or even that the war could continue to broaden and become a world war.
It is not lacking of realism, but understanding that the expectation for peace has disappeared and been extinguished in the minds of too many. However, it has not been extinguished in the expectations of those who are suffering, because those who are suffering are waiting for peace. I think about those who have lost their dear ones in Ukraine under the bombings, I think to all the soldiers who are in the frontline, I think about their mothers, women, children, friends who are worried for them.
I have seen the many dead in Ukrainian cemeteries, young lives that have been broken. And in Ukraine we see many wounded people as it was never seen in Europe. And I remember them in the decades after the Second World War.
I also think to all those who have left Ukraine towards a foreign land. I know, in Ukraine, how great is the need for humanitarian help for the hardship that many families are going through.
No, the expectation for peace has not been extinguished in the light of prophecy: No more shall men call you "Forsaken," or your land "Desolate," These words, as you know, are addressed by the prophet to Jerusalem, but we feel them addressed to Ukraine today, we feel them addressed to Kiev. Kiev, that was built in ancient times as a new Jerusalem, with its churches, its golden domes, its monasteries, its memory of holiness and sorrow.
We have not given up peace for Ukraine and for Kiev. Therefore, every day we pray and must pray for peace, for the end of war, for the re-establishment of a normal, secure, right and serene life.
And so, we have welcomed the word of the prophet: for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, Until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch. And what is the greatest justice? It is peace! We cannot rest, we cannot give ourselves peace until there is peace in Ukraine.
But our word is not listened to, and so we have turned to the Lord: O you who are to remind the LORD, take no rest. And give no rest to him, until he re-establishes Jerusalem And makes of it the pride of the earth.
With prayer, let us not give rest to the Lord until there is peace in Ukraine. With insistent prayer, that this Russian-Ukrainian war may end and end soon. Because Kiev and all of Ukraine should be re-established. And I must say that prayer is also our protestation towards the war, protestation towards God, protestation towards those who govern, protestation towards the people.
A mystic of Judaism, Rabbi Nachman of Breslav, who is buried in Uman, Ukraine. It is a city that has recently been bombed and whose large Jewish community was massacred in 1941, Rabbi Nachman said: Remember that the heart of your prayers is in the trust of seeing them fulfilled. Let us have faith and the Lord listens to us. We do believe that our prayers are fulfilled.
And Rabbi Nachman added: You get out you challenge God! Defeat God because God wants us to win, He wants us to pray unceasingly, until we force Him.
Yes, dear brothers and sisters, let us pray unceasingly God, to force him to give us peace. And Jesus taught: Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
The cry of the poor is prayer of those who do not find listening; the cry is also the lamentation of millions, who are suffering this tragic war without meaning that imprisons Ukraine, Russia, Europe in a path without return.
Dear Friends,
tonight we are those sentinels, we are those sentinels on the walls of Ukrainian cities, we are the sentinels on the border of Ukraine, all day and all night we shall never be silent. We shall not be silent in our plea for peace, we shall not be silent in asking for paths of dialogue may be opened, we shall not be silent in asking everyone that we must help Ukrainians in this time of great need. Because many are turning away, forgetting the need of the old people, children, people who are sick overwhelmed by this misfortune.
We are intercessors. Intercession literally means 'to put ourselves in the middle', today in the middle of those who are fighting, today between the Father and the sorrows of the world, saying: It is enough of this useless war, it is enough of this war that consumes people! It is enough of war! We need to find soon, even if it requires effort and audacity, the way of peace.
May the Spirit of the Lord, that is the spirit of peace, calm the war-like passion, the foolish logic of hatred and lead those who govern on the paths of peace and justice. May be peace to Ukraine, peace to Ukraine! Amen.
