5.1.2022 - Interfaith Solidarity Walk for Ukraine

ah

thank you rabbi good afternoon and welcome we come here today because of a sad and awful situation going on in ukraine today we come here to stand in support and solidarity with the people of ukraine and as we do that i want to thank united interfaith action the inner church council of new bedford and the greater fall river council of churches for putting this walk together and they chose the route and the day for

a couple of reasons one today is may 1st it's international workers day that's celebrated around the world we know in our country labor day is the first monday in september but around the world international workers day where we're called to pause and celebrate human rights and the rights of the workers also we're beginning this walk at a church that has polish roots and we're going to end it at a church that has

ukrainian roots again showing the symbolism of what's happening in ukraine and how different people are responding and today at this parish we're going to focus on some of the polish response to that i do want to acknowledge a couple of folks that are here with us today that won't be speaking our district attorney tom quinn is here with us we have different people from across the region as well i want to

thank our police department who is going to be leading us on the walk and on that just with the logistics when we do finish the short program here we're going to head out down to winthrop street and follow the lead of our police department we're going to cross plymouth avenue go down globe street go down south main street to rocklin street we're going to walk by saint stanislaus church where they'll be having some

songs as we walk by and other people will be joining the walk there and then we'll end at saint john's ukrainian church on center street with a program and some speaking there as we go through the walk if you do not have a sunflower would like one we'll have someone handing them out at the end as many as we have and also as we do go through the walk we

ask that we do it on a silent walk remembering the situation and the suffering that is going on in ukraine and now to begin our program we're going to begin with a song so shanna

you probably know this song if i had a hammer but uh i changed the word land to world because i wanted to make it international

danger love between this if world had a song i'd sing it in the morning i'll sing it in the evening between my brothers and my sisters

i got a song to my is and my sisters all over this world it's a song about love between my brothers and my sisters

now the mayor of the city of fall river mayor paul coogan

uh obviously god is with fall river today to give us a day like this it's a great day for a walk and uh it's great to have everybody out this afternoon i have a proclamation that i just want to issue today we ask the residents of fall river to stand and solidarity with solidarity with our ukrainian community and the citizens of ukraine who are defending themselves against an unprovoked and unjust

invasion by the russian federation that began on february 23rd that must have been a russian we asked the residents of fall river to support all who were fighting for freedom and democracy in the ukraine and remember the innocent lives that have already been lost the invasion continues to inflict widespread destruction suffering and loss of life this proclamation not only condemns the

russian federation but also commends the ukrainians for continuing their fight for freedom the city of fall river stands in solidarity with the people of the ukraine in their fight for freedom and applauds them for their strength courage bravery and all citizens should express their support for those facing this unjustified attack on democracy and freedom today and every day of this conflict

we ask all the citizens of fall river to keep president zielenski and the people of ukraine in their thoughts and especially in their prayers i paul coogan mayor of fall river do hereby proclaim may 1 support for ukraine day thank you all very much and i hope we enjoy the walk thank you

and now our mayor is going to present the proclamation to father roman the pastor emeritus of saint john's ukrainian catholic church

next i'd like to call upon our state senator michael rodriguez thank you thank you mayor that was very very very nice and thank you rabbi thank you cantor and thank you father rob for opening your church and allowing us to gather here as we open our hearts and we open our thoughts and we open our prayers and we go on this silent vigil march thinking and praying for our brother you and sisters in the ukraine

and i want also to make an announcement that with the help of my colleagues representative carol fiola representative paul schmid representative alan silvia from fall river we were able to secure in the last budget 10 million dollars to assist you ukrainian refugees so that we can open our doors open our arms to welcome them to provide clothing to provide food to provide housing to provide diapers to

provide whatever is necessary as they have fled that atrocity that's happening in their homeland we are all welcoming them with open arms thank you all and god bless i also do want to also present to father roman a resolution from our state representatives um to the same effect um standing in solidarity with the walk for ukrainian a commitment to helping those around the world from our state

representative carol fiola

roy

next i'd like to call upon uh joanna barker a member of the parish here at blessed trinity who's been the poland several times to speak about some of the efforts going on there

good afternoon and welcome to all gathered here today in support of and in solidarity with the people of ukraine over the past two months we have seen we've been witness to tragedies and horror like most in our generation have never seen homes and hospitals turned to rubble overnight families separated displaced and scattered around europe in the world children orphaned with no home and no one to return to

these tragedies that we witnessed today on the news and on social media from a world away evoke memories of a time in a place that family and friends of many of those gathered here today would remember with heavy hearts including my own grandparents and my own dad heavy hearts because yet again we see another peaceful beautiful and independent nation reduced to ashes our hearts love and prayers go out to the

people of ukraine as polish americans we see the images from ukraine and we can't help but relate in so many ways we see mariupol and we remember beyostok we see harkuf and we remember warsaw and remembering our own history we are determined to help those who are living the nightmare our families lived over 80 years ago i have always been so proud to be a daughter of polish immigrants and

honored to call poland my second home i have never been more proud of my homeland as i have been over the past few months we see the aid that poland and so many other nations are providing displaced of ukraine on the news but it is the stories from family and friends in poland the personal stories that are so uplifting over social media i have seen cousins and friends in poland go to the train

station in warsaw leaving strollers clothing toys for children whose entire life had to be quickly packed into a tiny backpack that they could carry friends sending offers of homes for up to 12 people including any family pets which may have also made the journey offers of hot meals and free transportation to train stations across europe have flooded these pages since the war began

all these acts of love and generosity are on a daily basis and keep multiplying we see our sister parish of the polish national catholic church outside of krakow svente barbara led by father buddha which has turned into a center of mass distribution of clothing food personal hygiene products and more for refugees crossing the border trucks from all over poland and even europe are a daily basis bringing

pallets of food and supplies and are always met with a smile and a thank you as the volunteers know that the need is great and unfortunately will only continue to grow on an almost daily basis father buddha will send a message on facebook asking for an item which would have been impossible to cross the border with such as a crib or a baby bathtub and within hours if not minutes there is a reply

that one has been sourced this past week to celebrate eastern ukraine following a traditional mass said in ukrainian there was a picnic held for refugee families and volunteers where local vendors brought bounce houses popcorn and cotton candy machines in order for these families to have been through so much to enjoy some laughter and much needed fun the parish also holds several ukrainian language masses

weekly for families to continue to be able to worship in their native language father buddha his parish and community are truly god's work in action in remembering and honoring their own history the people of poland have become a shining example of generosity compassion and love for the entire world to emulate it is only natural for poland to be being so deeply rooted and acutely

aware of her own history that her people would reach out to their neighbors in their time of need as today we see mario paul scheldt just like bell was stuck it will one day be reborn and as we see harkouf attacked like warsaw it too will rise again through god's grace and the perseverance of the ukrainian people we often hear that history repeats itself and usually that phrase infers a negative connotation

and although we are seeing history repeat itself in the most cruel fashion at this moment in time we will one day see that history come full circle with the liberation and rebuilding of ukraine as poland celebrates her own constitution day this week we hope and pray that ukraine may soon yet again come to have their peace and independence among their nation and as we look around today a half a

world away from ukraine let's not forget that despite our own different backgrounds and religions we have gathered here today as one in solidarity with our friends in ukraine our different backgrounds do not matter today as we gather with a common purpose and belief we believe that peace through god's love will prevail many of us who have gathered here today arrive to strangers but we will leave

today as friends and a community in support of poland and in support of ukraine thank

you now i'd like to call upon another parishioner blessed trinity who's been the poland many times jessica miranda prior to two months ago you might be hard-pressed to find people who knew where poland was let alone where ukraine or even kiev was on a map but for some of us our eyes were glued to the news any way we could get it two months ago i for one was stunned by what

was being shown on my screen was this really happening immediately my thoughts were how could i help from thousands of miles away within a few short hours i had received numerous text messages with web links on ways to support polish organizations already ready to support the ukrainians that were now arriving along the 332 miles that separate our two wonderful countries for most you they cannot really comprehend what

is taking place in that area of the world those of us with ties to these countries know all too well what this truly means growing up with strong polish identity i knew that my family came from the jesuit region of poland which is just less than an hour away from the ukrainian border i grew up knowing that life in the area during communist times were difficult for my relatives my grandmother or

bobbish as we called her would tell the stories of our relatives there and how difficult it was for them to live in a country controlled by the former soviet union multiple times my family would box up items and ship them to our extended family in poland to help make their lives just a little bit easier items like coffee tea sweets especially chocolate household items that we took

it that we took for granted like toilet paper and band-aids as a child it was just unbelievable that you would have to stand in line every month for your ration of chocolate can you believe being a kid and not being able to have your bag of chocolate or getting your favorite popular toy at a local toy store the letter we would receive back from them from our family didn't talk about their hardships

but instead always wished for our health wealth and happiness thankfully we along with the world in 1989 saw that what many polish people knew that civil disobedience can bring and will bring about change after the fall of communism we were we hoped never to see a country deprived of their independence especially any country that was under the former control of the soviet union ten years later after the fall of

communism i had the opportunity to spend my summers in poland and to see with my eyes all the stories that i was told growing up one could see that the older generation having a harder time adjusting to life while the younger generation kept embracing it with open arms the older generation knew how to speak german and russian while the youth couldn't wait to practice their english as a native speaker

i was fortunate enough to be able to teach nearly 500 polish children english as a sacred language multiple times during my summer from the north of the country all the way to the mountains in the south and even the capital of warsaw these youth ranging from elementary to high school were so angered to learn from us and know what life was like i spent many fourth of july with these

kids and they would explain to me and my fellow teachers what independence and freedom really means in their eyes from these kids there was always a recurring message and that we must learn from the past and never let history repeat itself those youth that i helped to educate years ago are now today's young adults that are living by those words and helping to ensure they do their part and

make their voices heard and be the faces we are seeing on the news protesting the atrocities that are taking place just to the east of their country those of us with ties to these two countries all know all know all too well what is at stake here these young these young adults who were the last generation to live under communist rule know all too well what they and their families had to endure

they have shown the world how to be a citizen of the world through today's digital world i have seen their efforts with helping and aiding those affected by the horrors of this war i have seen them organizing marches and attending rallies to show everyone that it is not okay to take away a country's independence and they refuse to sit back and be silent some have driven to the border to bring

much needed supplies to those mothers and children who left with little more than a suitcase and a favorite toy others have opened their doors to their homes to what were strangers and they had when they had an empty bed or a spare room some even have tried warning warming the bellies of those displaced by canning jars of homemade soup to hand out and create soup pantries while others have volunteered their time

at local bus and train stations or refugee centers providing res reser resources to those whose lives have been turned upside down their quickness to respond and willingness to help should be an example for all of us here and the word and the world to emulate sadly we know this will not be over tomorrow for some will be affected for the rest of their lives by these events let's stand in strength in solidarity

with them today and to the last slava ukraine us now pause for a moment of prayer god as we gather this day in support of the people of ukraine undergoing such suffering violence death and destruction we know you are with those enduring the horrors of war and we pray that peace and justice will prevail we are thankful for those helping to aid the suffering and the injured both physically and emotionally

for those who are welcoming and providing for the refugees as we prepare for this walk in solidarity with the people of ukraine inspire us to continue to act to support them in their time of great need through our prayer and through our action with our time our talent and our donations that we may act to help in various ways to ease the misery suffering and despair of those who are experiencing this unjust war

let us now pause and remember the thousands of innocent lives lost in ukraine

so

for these lives lost and all that we have prayed for this we ask in your holy name amen

you