Pokrova

 Homily

Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

The story is told of some fire-fighters in the forests of the great Northwest and a conflagration which took weeks to bring under control. Much of the open forest, it seems, was burned to the ground, and as they surveyed the damage they came upon the eerie sight of a bird, completely engulfed by the flames, until there was nothing left but bone and ash. But when they knocked it over with a stick, three tiny chicks scurried out from under their dead mother’s wings.

The mother bird, it seems, had carried her offspring to the base of a tree and gathered them under her wings. When the fire reached her, the mother did not move, burning to death while protecting her chicks under the shadow of her wings.

It’s what we prayed about in the Psalm this morning, that God ‘hide us under the shadow of his wings.’1 And when Jesus spoke of his desire to ‘gather the children of Israel together, as when a hen gathers her chicks under her wings...'2

In other words, God will take care of us with the devotion, love and protection of a peregrine falcon, way up there in the steeple, sheltering her young under her wings from the cold winds and the storms of life. In her presence, as in God’s there is safety, protection, and care.

Indeed, from the days the Chosen People were wandering in the desert, God has been covering us with his love, “Like an eagle... hovers over her young..."3

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The people of the Ukraine need that protection more than ever these days. This past week, four of Kyiv’s hospitals were without electricity or running water, while more than 10,000 people have been killed since the start of the war, a third of them civilians.

In many of the media reports you can see Ukrainian priests holding up an icon of the POKROVA, an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with her outstretched hands lifting up the edges of her cloak, beneath which the people of the Ukraine huddle together.

It’s an old image, this POKROVA, which is translated in Ukrainian as the Virgin of the Cover, or Our Lady of Protection.

It comes from the tenth century, when the people of Constantinople were also under seige by a foreign power. As the story goes, Mary appeared in a parish Church and was seen spreading her cloak over the city, at which the invading armies withdrew. Around a century later, the Grand Prince of Kyiv dedicated Ukraine to the POKROVA, where she is known today as the “Queen of Ukraine.” Her feast was celebrated just two weeks ago, amidst the sounds and the horrors of war. But despite

it all, the people of the Ukraine still gathered in their Churches and trusted that the Lord and his Blessed Mother would protect and care for them.

Now, you may not live in a war zone, or have reason this morning to fear for your lives. But you still face the storms of life: the unexpected suffering, the fear and a sense of powerlessness against the onslaughts of life.

But when you do, just say your prayers and go to Church and trust in the God who loves you more than you can ever know... even more than a mother Eagle, who will shelter you in her love.

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1 Psalm 17:8.

2 Cf. Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34.

3 Deuteronomy 32: 10-12.