Paula's Thursday Boost

Hello, members of the St. Patrick Parish youth group, Rooted! This is Paula, one of the adult volunteers for Rooted. Sofia has asked me to write a weekly post to share with you on Thursdays during Lent. For a few days now, I've been writing down ideas and looking for interesting faith-related tidbits to share with you! This week's Thursday Boost has to do with using the words of Psalm 23 for comfort and hope when we feel anxious, confused or sad about things we read/see in the news.

My mind and heart keep going back to the events happening in and to the people of Ukraine. The eastern European country of Ukraine was invaded by Russia on Thursday, February 24. As the Russian military makes its way into the interior of Ukraine, Ukrainian citizens are either holding fast to defend their country or fleeing for safety. Some are unable to leave due to the chaos. Lives have been lost and will continue to be lost as this war continues.

Events like this might not seem to affect our lives because it's happening so far away. Or it can be overwhelming because we hear or read so much of it online, on the evening news, and in the morning paper. Maybe the Ukraine events have been discussed in your homes or at school. We wonder how this conflict will affect our lives and our country. We feel compassion, concern, and sorrow for the Ukrainian people. We imagine what it would be like to find ourselves in a similar situation.

We should always go to God in prayer with our worries and fears! We pray to God to shelter the Ukrainian people from harm and to change the hearts and minds of the leaders of the Russian government!

I find that Psalm 23 is comforting to read for a variety of circumstances. In other words, any time! This psalm describes the Lord as our shepherd. Take a moment to read Psalm 23. If you don't have a physical Bible handy, you can look up the passage online at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website: https://bible.usccb.org/bible

There's a beautiful song written and sung by Marty Haugen, whose lyrics were based on Psalm 23. Listen to Marty singing "Shelter Me, O God" on YouTube in this video below.

Thanks for reading my post. Carpe diem!

--Paula