Marked as Belonging

Monday Ministerial Musings

By Rev. Mark William Ennis

2022 Blog #14

April 11, 2022

Marked as Belonging

We are now in the beginning of Holy Week which is the most sacred week of the Christian year. It is a time of reflection and repentance. It is a time to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus, God in human form. Perhaps this year, with the war in Ukraine continuing, contemplation of sin and a fallen world, is a bit more obvious. We are reminded daily of the horrors of war.

Lidia T. Hawryluk, my Ukrainian friend from childhood recently posted a horrible and haunting picture of children in the war zone of Ukraine. These children have letters placed with markers on their backs. The letters tell who each child is, who the parents are, and where the child is from. What is the point of this? The point is that in case of the death of the children’s parents, rescuers will know who the children are. This practice became common as the number of civilian casualties has increased leaving many children orphaned.

It burns my heart that civilian deaths are so high in this war of Putin’s. My heart breaks because of the rise of the number of orphans in Ukraine. I want to cry that parents know that they stand a good chance of dying and are hoping that someone else will find and raise their children. Can you imagine not knowing if you will survive tonight and be wondering who will be taking care of your children tomorrow? That is a nightmare that I would rather not contemplate but it is a reality  for many parents in war-torn Ukraine. On the verge of death, they are watching out for the welfare of their children.

This Holy Week, as with all Holy Weeks we contemplate God’s love for us and his watching out for our welfare both in this life and in the afterlife. Like those children in Ukraine, when we are part of Christ, we have the name of God etched upon us. Let us spend this Holy Week thanking God for making us his own and let us live lives that show gratitude for placing his name on us.

Both adult and juvenile refugees are still fleeing Ukraine and need our support. If you would like to contribute to help care for these refugees please contribute by this link: https://www.rca.org/give/2022-european-crisis-response/

#ReformedChurchInAmerica                                 #PastorMarkAuthor            

#BergenCounty                                                        #BergenfieldNJ

# Ukraine                                                                   #Russia

#Peace                                                                      #Refugees    

# LidiaTHawryluk                                                        #UkrainianChildren

To read more of Pastor Mark’s writings, please order copy of his book: https://deepriverbooks.com/books/the-circle-of-seven/