Only those who are parents can understand the pain of a husband/father having to say goodbye to a wife and/or a child who board a train as refugees in order to travel to a safer place This man/husband/father remains in Ukraine to defend his country. What goes through the mind of this father? Perhaps he is afraid of losing his life and thinking that this might be the last time that he will see his child and his wife.

The moment that photographer Paul Hansen captured exemplifies the thousands, perhaps millions of personal dramas that are hidden behind this unjust and unequal contest.

It is hard to discover where hope is hidden when we look at scenes like this. In situations like this, one might only feel great compassion (“suffer with the other”, in its deepest meaning) and at the same time one might also experience a profound hope, a certainty that many good people will welcome these refugees with affection, offering them a safe place and a comfortable environment, in addition to their closeness and empathy.

In addition to putting everything in God’s hands, let us get down to work to minimize pain, to increase hope, to end hatred, to help the needy, and to advocate in all forums for an end to this war and to all wars (wars that are absurd and contrary to Jesus’ teaching). Saint Vincent de Paul knew how to act during the wars that devastated the people in seventeenth century France. May his example enlighten us to do the same during the twenty-first century!

Read ⁦@dagensnyheter⁩ today.
A story by Niklas Orrenius about the heartbreaking human tragedy playing out on train stations around the country. #Ukraine #Lviv #Russia #Warhttps://t.co/HX09QQfGwM pic.twitter.com/G3BjB97jKN

— paul hansen (@paulhansen64) March 2, 2022