The Council held a prayer service for Mid Lent on Tuesday 14 March 2023 hosted by St Andrew’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lidcombe. The service was small, but the diversity of different traditions surfaced when the service was shared amongst friends. Jesus taught His disciples to pray for one another. 

Jesus taught us our need to pray for peace.  We live in a world that is volatile and that needs love, care, and compassion. The order of service focused on prayer and reflection. There were three readings – Psalm 11, Romans 8:31-39, and Revelations 21:1-7. The reading’s central theme reminded the listener that God is always there and will not leave you, even during all the troubles. 

The preacher was Fr Simon Ckuj, parish priest of St Andrews’s Ukraine Catholic Church, who gave the reflection on the readings. The readings were as relevant as they were in the first century as they are today in the 21^st century – timeless jewels of comfort and solace. Amid our troubled waters and landscape, Christ gives us comfort, for ‘I am with you’. 

Prayers were offered after the reflection with nine candles lit – lighting a candle to disperse the darkness around us, and asking Christ the light of the world to lighten our path and lighten the journey that we all need to pursue in the troubled path we all walk on. After the service, group photos were taken at the front of the church, and tea and coffee were served in the church hall. The Council in gratitude thanked St Andrew’s Ukrainian Church community for hosting and for their hospitality after the service. To view the service on Facebook, click on the link https://fb.watch/jh4dr7OA_V/.