Lithuania: Bishops’ letter to the faithful, “God can be found in the people at our doors”. Prayers for soldiers and migrants

“Let us cross the threshold of fear and selfishness. Let us remain in communion of prayer and active love” - this is the invitation that the Lithuanian Bishops addressed to the faithful in a letter. As we approach the end of the liturgical year, “let us focus our attention on the essence of everything, the ultimate goal of our journey”. And since “God can be found in the people who stand at our doors”, if we recognise Him and respond with “concrete and active love”, then in this way too we “get closer to our goal”. In prayer, not only do we “draw closer to the Lord”, but we also realise that we are united on a “foundation which is not the sand of narrow personal or group interests”, but God. When we recognise Him as a Father, “we also recognise all of His children as our brothers and sisters”, even those who are in distress, or those who have a different religion, language and culture. The Bishops thus call on everyone to “embrace Lithuania in prayer”, particularly its eastern and southern border, “which has become an emergency area”. They call for prayers for Lithuania’s border guards and soldiers: “They face great challenges in protecting the state border, which is attacked in an insidious, cynical and inhumane way”. “Not only do they defend Lithuania and us, the Lithuanian people, but they also defend humanity, a different Christian approach to man”. And they ask to pray for refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, “especially those who, due to manipulation, lies, and malicious interests, ended up in a dead end, stuck between two borders”, and “for all those who seek a humane solution to this difficult problem”.
Valentina Bombelli