OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The ‘Fiat’ that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace. We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.” (Pope Francis “Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” St. Peter’s Basilica, March 25, 2022)
As death and destruction continue to rise in the Russian-Ukraine war, our Holy Father is imploring Our Lady, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for an end to the violence. On the Solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25, Pope Francis urged Catholics worldwide to join in a prayer of solidarity and consecrated the whole human family (particularly Russia and Ukraine) to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Bishop Larry Silva also led the Act of Consecration that day during the noon Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu and encouraged all in the diocese to do the same at home with their families.
The Act of Consecration passionately appeals to our Mother Mary saying: “May your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast aside.”
More than 10 million persons in Ukraine have been forced to leave their homes and flee as refugees. Most are women and children. Many are now orphans. Special papal envoy for peace, Cardinal Michael Czerny, was recently at the Ukraine border and shared these heart-wrenching reflections of what he observed firsthand: “I saw the war … I saw it in the eyes of the women, men and children I’ve met: uprooted, lost people, who carry everything they have left in a backpack or a shopping bag. They breathe and walk, but one can say that they have ‘lost their lives,’ or rather that the war has taken that away, and they have not yet begun to build a new one. The majority of refugees are women and children, and for them, there is the added threat of trafficking.”
Yet even through the pain and suffering, Cardinal Czerny has also witnessed acts of kindness by strangers, and is optimistic that hope is still alive: “I saw many people engaged in the peacemaking, approaching the refugees. It is a true army of peace that has mobilized for the initiatives of reception and solidarity, at many different levels. I have seen a Europe capable of putting aside closures and fears, capable of opening doors and borders, instead of building walls and fences. I have seen Europeans capable of behaving again like the Good Samaritan, loading into cars and buses strangers found ‘half-dead’ along the roads leading to the border. In a nutshell, I saw (the encyclical) ‘Fratelli tutti’ in action, in people’s hands and faces, in their actions and words.”
The plight of being displaced is also a real crisis here in our own islands as many face houselessness. On the Big Island of Hawaii, 31% of houseless persons are children; and of these houseless keiki, 42% are 5 years old and under. The majority — 68% — of houseless families are led by a single mom.
These glaring statistics paint a bleak picture, but at least one non-profit organization, an affiliate of the Diocese of Honolulu, is making huge strides in helping the most vulnerable. Last year, HOPE Services Hawaii (hopeserviceshawaii.org) assisted 190 families experiencing homelessness through outreach and shelter services, placing 81% of the women and children in affordable housing within the community.
This year’s Catholic Relief Services’ Rice Bowl Stories of Hope also highlight women and children who are rising above challenges of housing and food security. In Africa’s war-ravaged Rwanda, Gloriose Uwamahoro has been able to grow nutritious vegetables to feed her family and sell at market to raise money to send her children to school. Because of CRS support, she feels empowered now as “a woman who has been given a voice.”
For more on this inspiring mother’s story, visit crsricebowl.org/stories-of-hope/week-4. And for more news on the Act of Consecration to Mary, please visit vaticannews.va.
Let us all continue to pray to Our Mother Mary with these concluding words of the Act of Consecration: “Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the ‘Fiat,’ on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May you, our ‘living fountain of hope,’ water the dryness of our hearts. In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.”
TALK STORY OF HOPE
Gloriose Uwamahoro, Karekezi Jean Pierre and son (CNS photo)
Rwanda
“Though I say that our country has made progress, development is still essential, and it is ongoing.” (Gloriose Uwamahoro)
Living in Kigali, Rwanda, Gloriose Uwamahoro and her husband Karekezi Jean Pierre are no strangers to hardship and hard work.
Driven by a dream to send their three children to a good school, Gloriose sells vegetables and water in a kiosk and Karekezi sells vegetables at a market. It’s a full day’s work. They often return home late at night, but thankful for the blessings they have.
“Our country went through a lot,” Gloriose says. “Though I say that our country has made progress, development is still essential, and it is ongoing.”
They faced many challenges. Their daughter was malnourished, like many other children in their village. Then Gloriose joined Gikuriro, a project funded by the U.S. government and led by Catholic Relief Services to support the Rwandan government’s efforts to combat malnutrition.
In Gikuriro, Gloriose learned how to prepare balanced meals for her children. She also learned about the importance of good hygiene. She shared these and other skills — like how to grow a kitchen garden — with her husband so they could support their children together.
“Parents have to pull together … because they are our responsibility,” Gloriose says about caring for their children.
She later joined a CRS-led micro-savings group and learned how loans could help her grow her business and make more money. Now she earns enough to support her family. She and Karekezi can also afford their dream of sending their kids to school.
Gloriose says because parents in her village have learned about balanced diets, their children are receiving the food they need. But what she considers truly wonderful is how, by participating in the program, “a woman has been given a voice.”
“It wasn’t a thing before for a woman to speak up … or borrow a certain amount of money and use it to make profit and pay it back,” she says. “That is something to be thankful for.”
