This morning started with more farewells to our refugees.  One woman is heading to Greece by bus, another family to Wroclaw, Poland. and a third one to another convent that opened its doors.  Sister Christina and Sister Eva head to the train station to see if there are refugees needing a room.  In the meanwhile, Sisters strip beds, launder, fold sheets and pillowcases, and ready the beds for our new residents who will arrive at any time.  I join in where I can and so our daily rhythm begins.

Two hours later,  I go with Sisters Anna and Dorota to attend a Final Profession at their Motherhouse in Stare Wies which means old village. That makes me smile because most of the villages here in Poland are old. After about an hour and half, we arrive at a magnificent light-colored building with a large cupola at the top and a metal ladder on its side which I would love to climb.  I won't.

After meeting the Mother General who spent time in the States, we meet a family of refugees who have just arrived from Sumy on the eastern side of the Ukraine close to the Russian border.  The city is being targeted by the Russians and is battling for its life.  As they describe their ordeal, the mother stands wringing her hands over and over and over again.  Her voice escalates in pitch and volume as she describes their three weeks in an underground basement. They feared that the building would collapse and bury them alive, and no one would ever hear them.  Agonizing over their decision to leave "for the children's sake", the family tries to escape down the "humanitarian corridor" through a barrage of bullets from the Russian soldiers. The traumatized mother just keeps repeating over and over: " They just kept shooting at us and we just ran for our lives to the bus".  The husband says goodbye and remains to fight for their country.  Such strength and courage are absolutely inspiring!

In the afternoon, we attend the Final Vows of a Sister who is making a lifetime vowed commitment to God and the congregation.  Celebrating this significant event during this tumultuous time surprised me, but the more I pondered it as I sat in the pew, the joyous ritual seemed desperately needed.  Terrible tragedies like this war cause us to ask the question:  Where is our God?  This Sister's self-offering answers the question.

In her article, The Future of Religious Life, Sandra Schneiders poses these questions to women religious, but they shed light on the rightness of this final vow commitment in the face of this unjust war and mass exodus.  "Do we bear witness to His presence among us when we are most beleaguered, most dispirited, most threatened by “the authorities” who are really after us and who do have power to do us real harm?  Do we do this in solitude and in community, with fellow Religious and laity, with Catholics and non-Catholics and even non-believers? Do we do it when we have the resources and when we don’t, when we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and when we can’t? (p.16). 

In this young woman's final commitment as a religious Sister within her congregation, she is professing that God is right here in the midst of suffering.  God walks with the Ukrainian families through bullets and bombs as they flee.  In the heart of fear, grief and loss, God weeps.  God opens a way where there is none.  Let us pray these words from the song "Do Not Fear to Hope" by Rory Cooney for the Ukrainian people:

                        Do not fear to hope through the wicked rage and rise.
                        Our God sees not as we see,
                        Success is not the prize.
                        Do not fear to hope, for though the night be long,
                        The race shall not be to the swift,
                        The fight not to the strong. 

                        Look to God when reason fails
                        And terror reigns in the night.
                        Look upon the crucified
                        And see beyond into Easter’s dawning light.

God's light will overcome this darkness and this young Sister's commitment boldly proclaims our faith!

Many of you are asking how to help through a donation.  Although I left quickly for this mission trip, my congregation, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, were extremely generous and people nearby dropped off donations. When any family leaves, I give the mother $50.00 in American money when exchanged is about $200.00 in Polish currency.  Each time I do this, the mother cries as a little bit of her anxiety is released.  I gave another donation to Yuri who is a Ukrainian man who drives people from the border to Przesmyl.  I am talking to the Sisters about setting up a PayPal account and if you would like to do so, tomorrow's blog will have more information.  

Thank you for praying along with us!