Hajja Salesjana April-June 2022

As I write this greeting, we are on day 10 of this terrible war that has displaced a million and a half people already. While this is true, I want to underline that the solidarity, fraternity, and humanity of simple hearts and families, in addition to the response of many governments, are the things that help me feel better about being a human being. If it were not for these realities, I don’t think we could forgive ourselves. Our little grain of sand I am in daily contact with our Confreres and Sisters in Ukraine and Poland. It gives me great peace to know that, as a Salesian Family, we are also offering our little grain of sand. I am happy to hear that the young people lodging in our home in Lviv have also been welcomed in Salesian houses in Slovakia. It gives me peace to know that the Salesian houses on the border between Poland and Ukraine have all opened their doors to take in those displaced by the war. Dozens of mothers and their children have been offered food, rooms, and places to live in dignity. Acts of solidarity such as these are also coming from other nations and many other Salesian presences. Indeed, help is arriving from all over the Salesian world and all the provinces, regardless of size, according to each one’s possibilities. We are acting as a channel for sending monetary donations and shipments of medical supplies to the most remote places, thus bringing help to people who need it the most. Albeit a grain of sand, we are tens of thousands of people and institutions who are helping the cause. Prayer for Peace All is done in silence—not “making noise” like the bad news—without advertisement, just in solidarity and in simplicity. It is time to move from Gethsemane and Calvary to the hope and strength of the Resurrection. It is very painful that, in this preparation for Holy Week and the Holy Solemnity of Easter, bombs, bullets, rifles and death are present. Even amidst this pain, I do not stop proclaiming that life is stronger, human fraternity is stronger, solidarity is stronger, the dignity of the person is stronger even when it is trampled, and the help from brother to brother, sister to sister, is stronger—even if we do not know each other or speak the same language. Hope is more contagious. I ask the Lord of Life in prayer to help us come to our senses—especially for those who have created this tragedy. I ask that peace will win. I ask that hearts be filled with true humanity and not be silent. May we do whatever each of us can do, dear friends. Let's join efforts with our voices, our helping hands, and our prayers. May the Risen Lord fill us with His Strength and His Peace. In Him, Don Angel 15 April - Ġunju 2022 hajja