The Church is a community of people gathered by the Most High. Therefore, when there is a situation in our lives and it seems to us that there is no way out, God is always ready to support us, empathize with us, and reach out for help.
The Head and Father of the UGCC stressed this in his homily to the faithful at the parish of St. Archangel Michael in Troyeshchyna, in Kyiv, on Sunday, November 3, 2019.
The Primate noted that the Word of God always takes on a new meaning, because each time it seems the Most High speaks to each of us personally.
“This Gospel, which we read today, describes to us compassionate God, Who hurries to a man to bring back his lost hope,” remarked the preacher commenting on the story of how Jesus returned life to a young man. The boy was the only son of a widowed woman. Moreover, for his mother he was a sense of life and hope.
“The Lord comes to a person to personally hold him by the hand even when he is dead, when he supposedly thinks there is no way out of his situation. However, the source of Christian hope for each person is the life-giving right hand of God,” emphasized the spiritual leader of the Greek Catholics.
According to him, our Heavenly Father is always concerned with our troubles. However, one should not forget that where there is God, there is hope.
“The word about hope that used to be lost and has been returned is special for us. Because we are now celebrating this Liturgy in the room that commemorates those sons of Ukraine over whom the Ukrainian mother still cries. Here are their photos that show the sons of Ukraine, who have been looking at us from eternity. And now the whole world is asking us, “Listen, do you still have hope there, in Ukraine?” asked the Head of the UGCC.
And later he added: “Whenever someone steals hope from me: an individual, an enemy (who wishes me harm), or even myself (when I sin and separate from God – the source of life) – then I begin to live in the trap of death. In those circumstances, even at dramatic times, the Lord sees me and cries with me. And now he cries with our Ukrainian mothers. However, He does not just sympathize with us somewhere in heaven… No. He comes to us and takes hold of our hand.”
It is worth noting that His Beatitude Sviatoslav appealed to the parishioners of the Church of St. Archangel Michael in Troyeshchyna and wished them to feel the power of hope and joy in life.
“God gathers people into His Church. Therefore, we can find Christian hope in today’s circumstances and in the modern world when we create a true living Church. Therefore, the hope of the community is to be a true living Church. Because the Church is not a temple, it is not something earthly and material that can be given or taken away. The Church is the people whom the Lord has gathered, the people over whom God has compassion, the people to whom God has come personally and in the Church made them partakers of His Body and Blood,” said the bishop.
The UGCC Department for Information