These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.

Queen Esther, prayed: “Save us from the hand of our enemies; turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness.” (Es 4:17n. p-r. aa-bb. gg-hh)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031022.cfm
According to Pope Francis, prayer, along with fasting, is one of God’s weapons. Queen Esther’s prayer is the anguished prayer of the Ukrainian people.