Many families who cannot work today simply do not have the means to live. We are facing difficult times of great economic hardship and of our state building. The Father and the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said this during his sermon to the faithful at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection in Kyiv.
The Primate explained that to be a Christian means to “drink the cup of the Lord,” to be partakers of the eternal life He is presenting to us even now in this Divine Liturgy. But to drink the cup of the Lord means to participate in the same ministry that our Savior does every day.
The preacher believes that one cannot be a partaker of His cup without being a partaker of His ministry for those who need it.
To serve is the highest and only privilege that true Christians seek in this earthly life. Now, in these circumstances of the global pandemic, the humankind is drinking a bitter cup. Today, we Christians must ask ourselves, to what mission, to which ministry is God calling us today?” asks the Head of the Church.
He believes that everyone should find the answer to this question because to each of us the Lord gives a special kind of mission of how to serve others.
“We see that the world economy has stopped. One of the consequences of this test will be a truly difficult life for many Ukrainians in our native land… We know that the biggest investors in the economy of Ukraine were our migrant workers, many of whom are no longer able to serve their families and their homeland today,” said the Primate.
We, as a Church, should think what we, the Christians of Ukraine, can do to serve the most vulnerable people in our country. “For tomorrow, there will be many who will not have money for their daily bread. And now we have to think about how we can serve those who will be in the greatest difficulty and need,” says the Archbishop.
He expressed his gratitude to the laity who, even in the quarantine circumstances, have found different ways of performing social service and sharing money online.
To drink the cup of the Lord means for everyone to feel responsible not only for health, but also for the lives of those most in need near us.
“We have to serve and, if necessary, give back what we have, what we know, and ultimately who we are. Only then we will fulfill that mission that Christ Himself is going to accomplish for each of us today,” called on the Head of the UGCC.
The UGCC Department for Information