CATECHESIS

THE PARISH CATECHETICAL PROGRAM WILL RESUME IN SEPTEMBER

SUNDAY, JULY 18, 2021

Let us pray for all the sick that may no one be left alone, that everyone receive the anointing of listening, closeness and care. We can all give it with a visit, a phone call, an outstretched hand.

God knows that the only way to save us, to heal us from within, is by loving us. He knows that we become better only by accepting his unfailing love, an unchanging love that changes us.

Pope Francis @Pontifex

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Sunday, July 11, 2021

ST. OLHA, KYIVAN PRINCESS 

– July 11th

Saint Olha, also called Saint Olha of Kiev, was born around 890 and died in 969 in Kyiv. Her feast day is July 11. She was a princess who was the first recorded female ruler in Kyivan Rus’ and the first member of the ruling family of Kyiv to adopt Christianity. She was canonized as the first Ukrainian saint of the Church in Ukraine and is the patron saint of widows and converts.

Olha was the widow of Ihor I, prince of Kyiv, who died in 945. Because Ihor’s son Svyatoslav was still a minor, Olha became regent of the grand principality of Kyiv from 945 to 964. Olga then became the first of the princely Kievans to adopt Christianity. She was probably baptized about 957 at Constantinople (now Istanbul). Her efforts to bring Christianity to Ukraine were resisted by her son but continued by her grandson, the grand prince St. Vladimir (died 1015); together they mark the transition between pagan and Christian Ukraine.

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Out of love for us, the Lord reveals to us his Law as the “path of life” (see Ps 15[16]:11). We are called to walk along this path which leads from the slavery of sin to the freedom of God’s children. This paschal character of God’s Law indicates the goal and substance of the Chris[1]tian calling. Therefore, God’s Law in no way contradicts human freedom; rather, it grants freedom through the grace of the Holy Spirit: “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. With my open mouth I pant, because I long for your commandments” (Ps 118[119]:130-131).

 Catechism of the UGCC – Christ our Pascha, # 823

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At the heart of the story of Peter and Paul is not their own gifts and abilities, but the encounter with Christ that changed their lives. They experienced a love that healed and set them free, and because of that, they became apostles and ministers of freedom for others.

If we are docile to love, to the Holy Spirit who is the creative love of God and who brings harmony to diversity, he will open the way to a renewed fraternity.

Charity is the beating heart of the Christian: just as one cannot live without a heartbeat, so one cannot be a Christian without charity.

Pope Francis @Pontifex

Sunday, July 4, 2021

Patriarch Sviatoslav proclaims Youth Catechism "WE GO WITH CHRIST"

On June 28 in the premises of the Lviv Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit ( Lviv, 35 Khutorivka, ) the head of the UGCC, Patriarch Sviatoslav, proclaimed a catechism for young people "We Go With Christ". The work on it lasted eight years, immediately after the presentation of the main Catechism "Christ is our Easter". Then Patriarch Sviatoslav took the initiative to create a Youth Catechism.

Today, the head of the UGCC proclaimed: "I proclaim a great joy to you. We have a catechism for young people "We Go With Christ". We have a unique message for Ukraine and the world, for our youth. It is a great joy and a great honor for me to proclaim the Catechism that our church has been working on for eight years... This is not a theology textbook, it is not some temporary text. This is a confession of faith to the Church. Its author is the Church. A catechetical text should always have its addressee. There was a question of how to speak to young people in a language that they could understand. And it was painstaking work that lasted eight years. It was preceded by a serious stage of listening to young people. The moment of listening and communicating with young people was based on a whole series of meetings. For me, as the head of the Church, a separate road of communication with young people has been created, which is called "Wise youth asks". We listened carefully to all the questions that the young people asked. And this was the starting material for the Youth Catechism. It was a difficult task. Two commissions worked on this: the Catechetical Commission and the Youth Commission. The Catechetical Commission took care of the doctrinal correctness of the text in order to convey the integrity of the faith of our Church, the youth commission wanted it to be a catechism that would be of interest to young people... We have found a way of such communication. This catechism is a guide for the traveler waiting for a Living Faith. The Mother Church has become close to every young person today so that they can travel the roads of life together. We were able to express the faith of our church truthfully and find a way to convey it to young people."

The Catechism is designed to accompany a young person who is seeking deeper things in their life, here it is about how not to become a cynic and lose faith. Its pages are a fascinating journey - a pilgrimage along the way of finding answers to questions about the most important truths of our faith, which today sound in the hearts of young Christians of the XXI century.

One of the authors of the Youth Catechism, Fr Myron Bendik told about the cuisine of writing, about the concept of this eight-year experience.

"The Church's strategy is also to have an idea of how our children and grandchildren live, what is authoritative for them, what accents they put in faith. To answer the request of the new generation, we had to take a good look at this generation, which has already grown up under an independent Ukraine and has a little more internal freedom. This is good, but it also suggests that young people are asking us much more uncomfortable questions. The idea of a catechism is to answer questions. This, in fact, means and encourages you to seek and give honest answers to young people's questions."

The first chapter of Catechism presents faith as an expansion of horizons and as the realization of the need for completeness that each person strives for.

The second section of the Catechism answers the question: How to feel like a person? This means, on the one hand, to feel freedom and responsibility. And on the other hand - to feel your capabilities, so that a person can begin to react personally in life. Therefore, the second part refers to prayer as the art of interpersonal communication, because prayer is when I unburden my soul to God.

 In the third part, all moral questions arise and it is shown that problems exist in order to solve them, and not to complain about them. It talks about family, social, and even economic problems. It's about how to go down in history, not for your own sake, but to do something in the generation that will remain as an achievement for the coming generations.

To create the Youth Catechism, His Beatitude Sviatoslav conducted a number of interviews with young people. A whole series of transcripts, conversations. This helped to study the requests of young people.

"The UGCC Youth Commission generated ideas, and the authors of the catechism collected them together and put them on shelves. Thus, we formulated the idea of pilgrimage, since youth pilgrimages are popular among young people. Thus, the pilgrimage takes place according to our history and geography, where our people live... Among the characters, there are several Roman cadres, from Kazakhstan which is the Eastern diaspora, as well as a nun from Brazil because Brazil is a continent of monastic vocations. There is a girl who is a representative of guest workers from Rome, who has experience in the problem of culture shock. There is a girl from Ukraine, she has health problems. In their company, there is a certain Father Andrey, who joins this group. This Father Andrew is a collective image of a priest who has no clericalism or omniscience. They go on a pilgrimage and each subsequent topic is looking for answers to the questions of these young people," says Fr. Myron Bendyk.

The catechism is illustrated with icons and eloquent photographs. This is done in order to discover all the richness of our cultural and spiritual heritage.

 "It's easy to pick up. It doesn't look like a scary encyclopedia. It has up to 300 pages. It has indications of where the icon comes from. There is an artistic dimension behind this," say the developers of the Youth Catechism.

According to the idea, these books can be used during goodbyes or in discussion circles to use topics for discussion.

"There is an attempt to honestly talk about Christianity as the realization of this maximum that a person can have in life. For every person, such familiarization is a valuable alternative. It is very important not to impose any opinion on a young person at the time of search and self-affirmation, but to offer an alternative according to the teachings of the Church. But in fact, in such moments of self-affirmation, young people often find themselves outside the church, choosing a variety of sectarian, atheistic trends. A catechism can help you not lose your true faith and return to it if necessary, " Fr. Myron Bendyk summarizes.

Why the name "We Go With Christ", because, as the creators of the Youth Catechism emphasize," going with Christ means choosing a happy trajectory in your life. In his Providence, God has a plan for us called Happiness. When we build with Christ, then we build happily. It is very important to seek real happiness, and not to imagine what it should be like. You need to be a believer in order not to miss your happiness. If you do not believe, then question claims yourself

On June 28 in the premises of the Lviv Theological Seminary of the Holy Spirit ( Lviv, 35 Khutorivka, ) the head of the UGCC, Patriarch Sviatoslav, proclaimed a catechism for young people "We Go With Christ". The work on it lasted eight years, immediately after the presentation of the main Catechism "Christ is our Easter". Then Patriarch Sviatoslav took the initiative to create a Youth Catechism.

Today, the head of the UGCC proclaimed: "I proclaim a great joy to you. We have a catechism for young people "We Go With Christ". We have a unique message for Ukraine and the world, for our youth. It is a great joy and a great honor for me to proclaim the Catechism that our church has been working on for eight years... This is not a theology textbook, it is not some temporary text. This is a confession of faith to the Church. Its author is the Church. A catechetical text should always have its addressee. There was a question of how to speak to young people in a language that they could understand. And it was painstaking work that lasted eight years. It was preceded by a serious stage of listening to young people. The moment of listening and communicating with young people was based on a whole series of meetings. For me, as the head of the Church, a separate road of communication with young people has been created, which is called "Wise youth asks". We listened carefully to all the questions that the young people asked. And this was the starting material for the Youth Catechism. It was a difficult task. Two commissions worked on this: the Catechetical Commission and the Youth Commission. The Catechetical Commission took care of the doctrinal correctness of the text in order to convey the integrity of the faith of our Church, the youth commission wanted it to be a catechism that would be of interest to young people... We have found a way of such communication. This catechism is a guide for the traveler waiting for a Living Faith. The Mother Church has become close to every young person today so that they can travel the roads of life together. We were able to express the faith of our church truthfully and find a way to convey it to young people."

The Catechism is designed to accompany a young person who is seeking deeper things in their life, here it is about how not to become a cynic and lose faith. Its pages are a fascinating journey - a pilgrimage along the way of finding answers to questions about the most important truths of our faith, which today sound in the hearts of young Christians of the XXI century.

One of the authors of the Youth Catechism, Fr Myron Bendik told about the cuisine of writing, about the concept of this eight-year experience.

"The Church's strategy is also to have an idea of how our children and grandchildren live, what is authoritative for them, what accents they put in faith. To answer the request of the new generation, we had to take a good look at this generation, which has already grown up under an independent Ukraine and has a little more internal freedom. This is good, but it also suggests that young people are asking us much more uncomfortable questions. The idea of a catechism is to answer questions. This, in fact, means and encourages you to seek and give honest answers to young people's questions."

The first chapter of Catechism presents faith as an expansion of horizons and as the realization of the need for completeness that each person strives for.

The second section of the Catechism answers the question: How to feel like a person? This means, on the one hand, to feel freedom and responsibility. And on the other hand - to feel your capabilities, so that a person can begin to react personally in life. Therefore, the second part refers to prayer as the art of interpersonal communication, because prayer is when I unburden my soul to God.

 In the third part, all moral questions arise and it is shown that problems exist in order to solve them, and not to complain about them. It talks about family, social, and even economic problems. It's about how to go down in history, not for your own sake, but to do something in the generation that will remain as an achievement for the coming generations.

To create the Youth Catechism, His Beatitude Sviatoslav conducted a number of interviews with young people. A whole series of transcripts, conversations. This helped to study the requests of young people.

"The UGCC Youth Commission generated ideas, and the authors of the catechism collected them together and put them on shelves. Thus, we formulated the idea of pilgrimage, since youth pilgrimages are popular among young people. Thus, the pilgrimage takes place according to our history and geography, where our people live... Among the characters, there are several Roman cadres, from Kazakhstan which is the Eastern diaspora, as well as a nun from Brazil because Brazil is a continent of monastic vocations. There is a girl who is a representative of guest workers from Rome, who has experience in the problem of culture shock. There is a girl from Ukraine, she has health problems. In their company, there is a certain Father Andrey, who joins this group. This Father Andrew is a collective image of a priest who has no clericalism or omniscience. They go on a pilgrimage and each subsequent topic is looking for answers to the questions of these young people," says Fr. Myron Bendyk.

The catechism is illustrated with icons and eloquent photographs. This is done in order to discover all the richness of our cultural and spiritual heritage.

 "It's easy to pick up. It doesn't look like a scary encyclopedia. It has up to 300 pages. It has indications of where the icon comes from. There is an artistic dimension behind this," say the developers of the Youth Catechism.

According to the idea, these books can be used during goodbyes or in discussion circles to use topics for discussion.

"There is an attempt to honestly talk about Christianity as the realization of this maximum that a person can have in life. For every person, such familiarization is a valuable alternative. It is very important not to impose any opinion on a young person at the time of search and self-affirmation, but to offer an alternative according to the teachings of the Church. But in fact, in such moments of self-affirmation, young people often find themselves outside the church, choosing a variety of sectarian, atheistic trends. A catechism can help you not lose your true faith and return to it if necessary, " Fr. Myron Bendyk summarizes.

Why the name "We Go With Christ", because, as the creators of the Youth Catechism emphasize," going with Christ means choosing a happy trajectory in your life. In his Providence, God has a plan for us called Happiness. When we build with Christ, then we build happily. It is very important to seek real happiness, and not to imagine what it should be like. You need to be a believer in order not to miss your happiness. If you do not believe, then question claims yourself: why am I not happy?"

Photos of the UGCC Information Department.

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Charity is the beating heart of the Christian: just as one cannot live without a heartbeat, so one cannot be a Christian without charity.

Christ is alive and desires that each of you live. He is the true beauty and youth of this world. Everything he touches becomes young, becomes new, full of life and meaning.

Pope Francis @Pontifex

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PARENTS & CHILDREN, PLEASE CONTINUE TO COME REGULARLY TO CHURCH DURING SUMMER VACATION!

MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU!

CONGRATULATIONS: First Confession & Solemn Communion – I want to congratulate the first communicants, Amarah andElliana Bennett, Ava Coleman, Amiriah Regets, Carlee and Connor Remauro and Maksym Vatamaniuk. On Sunday, May 23, 2021 they celebrated the Holy Mysteries of First Confession and Solemn Holy Communion. I want to thank Mrs. Colopelnic for preparing this group for the celebration of these two Sacraments. I thank the parents and family members for their effort in helping their children attend church during these past few months. With the celebration of these sacraments, children embark on a new spiritual journey in their young life. The success of this journey depends on the involvement and dedication of parents and family in the life of the church! Their faith needs to be at the center of their lives! I appeal to all parents, please do not disregard the importance of coming to church for your children’s and your own spiritual growth! The First Confession and Communion cannot be the end, but must be a new beginning. The sad reality is that all too often, the celebration of these sacraments is treated as a final spiritual milestone, after which many think that there is no need to grow spiritually. Let us all do our part and help others understand the blessings that we receive from Christ through His holy Church. May God continue bless our parish community!

SUNDAY, MAY 30, 2021

Sunday of all Saints

Let us celebrate with songs of praise the deeds of the holy people over all the earth, honoring them, as it is fitting: the apostles and martyrs, the bishops and holy women. While living on earth, they joined with the heavenly spirits, and by the grace of Christ, they received immortality through their sufferings. They shine as bright stars for us, and now they intercede for our souls.

Stikhera at “O Lord, I have cried …”Saturday vespers

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May the Holy Spirit teach us to view the world with God’s eyes and to treat our brothers and sisters with the gentleness of His heart.

Pope Francis @Pontifex

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Sunday, May 9, 2021

Today, many countries are celebrating Mother's Day. I wish to remember all others with gratitude and affection, entrusting them to the protections of Mary, our heavenly Mother. Let us also remember those mothers who accompany us from Heaven. 

Pope Francis @Pontifex

Sunday, May 2, 2021

Sunday of the Samaritan woman

"When You appeared in the flesh, O Christ God, to accomplish Your plan of salvation, the Samaritan woman heard the word of God’s love for us. 

She left the well and ran to the town and said: Come and see the One Who knows the secrets of our hearts; can this be the Christ, the Messiah Whom we await, the One Who bestows great mercy?"

Stikhera at “O Lord, I have cried …”

Saturday vespers

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Let’s not wait for our neighbours to be good before we are good to them, for others to respect us before we serve them. Let’s begin with ourselves.

There is no page of the Gospel on which there is no place for us. For us Christians, meditating is a way of coming into contact with Jesus. And in this way, only in this way, can we discover ourselves.   

Pope Francis @Pontifex

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Sunday, April 25, 2021

The fullness of life and of joy is found by giving oneself for the Gospel and for our brothers and sisters, with openness, welcoming and goodness.

The Lord of life wants us to be full of life, and he tells us the secret of life: we come to possess it only by giving it away.

Pope Francis @Pontifex

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Sunday, April 18, 2021

Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers 

The myrrh-bearing women, O Christ, rose up early and hastened to Your tomb, seeking to anoint Your most pure body. But when the glad tidings were brought to them by the words of the angel, they hastened to the apostles as messengers of joy. The Leader of our salvation has risen and conquered death. He grants the world eternal life and 

great mercy. 

Stikhera at “O Lord, I have cried …”

Saturday vespers 

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The Lord calls us to cooperate in the construction of history, becoming, together with Him, peacemakers and witnesses of hope in a future of salvation and resurrection.

In these dark months of the pandemic, let us listen to the Risen Lord as he invites us to begin anew and never lose hope. 

Pope Francis @Pontifex

Sunday, April 11, 2021

THOMAS SUNDAY 

Even though the doors were closed, You came to Your disciples, O Christ, and Thomas, called the Twin, was not with them. Therefore, he did not believe what they told him. You did not deem him unworthy for his lack of faith, but in Your goodness, You confirmed his faith by showing him Your pure side and the wounds in Your hands and feet. He touched them, and when he saw You, he confessed You to be neither and abstract God not merely human; and he cried out: My Lord and my God, glory to You! 

(Stikhera at “O, Lord, I have cried…)

Easter is the most important feast of our faith because it is the feast of our salvation, the feast of God's love for us.

Let us never tire of seeking the risen Christ who gives life in abundance to those who meet him. To find Christ means to discover peace in our hearts.Pope Francis @Pontifex

Sunday, March 28, 2021

In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah gives witness to the suffering of the Servant of God, which the Church recognizes to be the suffering of Christ: 

He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him off no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth (Is 53:3-7).

Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 225 

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У Старому Завіті пророк Ісая свідчить про страждання Слуги Божого, в яких Церква бачить страждання Ісуса Христа: 

«Зневажений, останній між людьми, чоловік болів, що зазнав недуги; немов людина, що перед нею обличчя закривають, зневажений, і ми Його нізащо мали. Та Він наші недуги взяв на Себе, він ніс на Собі наші болі. Ми ж, ми гадали, що Його покарано, що Бог Його побив, принизив. Він же був поранений за гріхи наші, роздавлений за беззаконня наші. Кара, що нас спасає, була на Ньому, і Його ранами ми вилікувані. Усі, як вівці, ми блукали; кожен ходив своєю дорогою; провини нас усіх Господь поклав на Нього. Його мордовано, та Він упокорявся і не розтуляв Своїх уст; немов ягня, що на заріз ведуть його, немов німа вівця перед обстригачами, не відкривав Він уст» (Іс. 53, 3-7).

 Катехизм – Христос наша Пасха # 225

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May we not let this time of grace pass in vain, in the foolish illusion that we can control the times and means of our conversion to the Lord! 

How many times have we told the Lord: “Lord, I will come to you later... I can’t come today. Tomorrow I will begin to pray and do something for others”. In this life, we will always have things to do and excuses to offer, but right now is the time to return to God. 

Pope Francis @Pontifex

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Sunday, March 21, 2021

The most effective means of combatting pride is to train oneself in humility. This opens a person toward God and neighbour, and makes a person capable of receiving God’s transfiguring and liberating power. 

 The apostle Paul declares: “We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:4-5). Through the virtue of humility, a person stands in truth before the face of God. 

 Therefore, Christian humility does not demean a person, but allows one to recognize one’s true dignity as a child of God. Saint John Chrysostom teaches: He who places humility as the foundation of his character can safely build a building of any height. 

 Humility is the strongest palisade, an immovable wall, an impenetrable fortress; it supports the entire edifice and does not allow it to fall… it makes it inaccessible to all attacks… and through it God, the lover of mankind, pours out on us his plentiful gifts. (John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis, 36, 7: PG 53, 330)

Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 779

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To experience Lent in hope means receiving the hope of Christ, who gave his life on the cross and was raised by God on the third day, and always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls us to account for our hope (1 Pt 3,15).

The Holy Spirit writes the history of the Church and of the world. We are open books, willing to receive his handwriting. And in each of us the Spirit composes original works, because there is never one Christian who is completely identical to another.

If God so loves us that he gives himself to us, the Church too has this mission. She is not sent to judge but to welcome; not to impose, but to sow; not to condemn, but to bring Christ who is our salvation.

Pope Francis @Pontifex

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Sunday, March 14, 2021

The Holy Mystery of Repentance (or Confession) is a marvellous manifestation of God’s love and mercy towards us sinners. This is because the Lord does not reject us and does not turn away from us when we, having been washed of our sins in Baptism and endowed with divine grace, sin again through malice or weakness. Indeed, the Lord awaits our repentance. He forgives us if we repent and confess our sins (see Lk 15:12-32).

Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 449

Святе таїнство Покаяння є великим виявом Божої любові й милосердя до нас – грішних. Бо коли ми, обмиті зі своїх гріхів у Хрещенні та обдаровані Божою благодаттю, знову чинимо зі злоби чи немочі гріх, Господь не відкидає нас і не відвертається, а очікує від нас покаяння. Він прощає нас, якщо ми каємося і сповідуємо свої гріхи (див. Лк. 15, 12-32).

Катехизм УГКЦ – Христос наша Пасха 449

Lent is a journey that involves our whole life, our entire being. It is a time to reconsider the path we are taking, to find the route that leads us home and to rediscover our profound relationship with God, on whom everything depends.

Love is our strength, strength of so many brothers and sisters who here too have suffered prejudice and indignities, mistreatment and persecutions for the name of Jesus. (Apostolic Journey - Iraq, 

March 5-8, 2021)

Let us remember our brothers and sisters who have paid the extreme price for their fidelity to the Lord. May their sacrifice inspire us to renew our trust in the strength of the Cross and its saving message of forgiveness, reconciliation and rebirth (Apostolic Journey - Iraq, March 5-8, 2021)

Pope Francis @Pontifex

Sunday, March 7, 2021

As a consequence of our first parents’ fall, human will became weakened. The capacity to recognize and choose the good was also enfeebled. In their relations with God and neighbour and in their attitude towards themselves and their environment, human persons began to be guided not by love and self-giving but by an egotistic exploitation of the other for personal and consumeristic gain. A consequence of the Fall is the loss of every person’s wholeness. This manifests itself in physical and spiritual suffering, in sickness and death

Christ came into the world to heal and save the human race, to renew the wholeness lost by human persons. During his earthly life, Christ, the healer of human souls and bodies, remitted sins and healed the sick. After his Ascension, he continues to do this in his Church by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Holy Mysteries of Repentance and Holy Anointing.

Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 447 & 448

Унаслідок гріхопадіння прародичів послабилася воля людини та її здатність розпізнавати й обирати добро. У своїх взаєминах із Богом, ближнім й у ставленні до себе самої і довкілля людина стала керуватися не любов’ю та даруванням себе, а самолюбним використанням людей задля власної користі і споживацтва. Наслідком гріхопадіння є втрата цілісності людини, що виявляється у фізичних і душевних стражданнях, хворобах і смерті.

Христос прийшов у світ, аби зцілити й спасти людину, щоб відновити втрачену людиною цілісність. Христос – лікар душ і тіл людських – під час Свого земного життя відпускав гріхи та зціляв хворих, а після вознесіння силою Святого Духа чинить це й далі через Свою Церкву у святих таїнствах Покаяння та Єлеопомазання.

Катехизм УГКЦ – Христос наша Пасха 447 & 448

Let us pray together that we may experience the sacrament of reconciliation with renewed depth, to taste the forgiveness and infinite mercy of God.

The center of confession is Jesus who waits for us, who listens to us and forgives us.

Pope Francis @Pontifex

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Sunday, February 28, 2021

Saint Gregory of Nyssa taught: “Tears are like the blood of the soul’s wounds.” Prayer with tears is God’s gift to us. It enables us to lament our sins and feel inner longing for God. It is a deep sensation that descends upon us when God reveals his Divine beauty on the one hand, and our own imperfection on the other. It is the tension between the Divine perfect and the human imperfect. Shedding tears over our imperfection, we commiserate with all creation which, due to our sin, “groans and suffers.” 

The spiritual ascetics teach that the fear of God yields tears of repentance. Tears bring spiritual joy while joy gives strength. In virtue of this the soul bears fruit. Thus, pain, suffering, and tears culminate in blessedness. The gift of tears cleanses our spiritual eyes and enables us to see everything around us the way that God sees it. We then do not judge our neighbour but are filled with merciful love, having become capable of feeling the suffering and needs of others

Catechism of the UCC: Christ – Our Pascha # 688-689

Святий Григорій Ніський навчав: «Сльози – це немов кров душевних ран». Молитва сліз – це Божий дар оплакування своїх гріхів і внутрішньої туги за Богом; це глибоке зворушення, викликане відкриттям людині, з одного боку, божественної краси, а з іншого – власної недосконалості. Це напруження між «божественним досконалим» і «людським недосконалим». Оплакуючи свою недосконалість, людина водночас співстраждає з усім творінням, яке через її гріх «стогне і мучиться» (див. Рм. 8, 22).

Духовні подвижники навчають, що страх Божий викликає сльози покаяння, сльози приносять духовну радість, а радість дає силу, завдяки якій душа приносить плоди. Таким чином біль, страждання і плач завершуються блаженством. Дар сліз обмиває очі серця людини, робить її здатною бачити все, що її оточує, як це бачить Бог. Тому така людина не осуджує ближнього, а сповнюється милосердною любов’ю, стаючи здатною відчувати страждання і потреби інших людей.

Катехизм УГКЦ – Христос наша Пасха (# 688-689)

May the example of so many doctors and healthcare workers who have risked their life to the point of losing it due to the pandemic move us to feeling truly grateful for how generously, and sometimes heroically, they carry out their profession.

In this Lenten season, accepting and living the truth revealed in Christ means, first of all, opening our hearts to God’s word, which the Church passes on from generation to generation.

     Pope Francis @Pontifex

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February 14, 2021

The person who prays is like someone in love with the beloved in his or her heart wherever they go. So we can pray at any moment, and during what happens every day: on the street, in the office, on public transportation, through words and in the silence of our hearts

All of us are responsible for the communications we make, for the information we share, for the control that we can exert over fake news by exposing it. All of us are to be witnesses of the truth

Fraternity is the true cure for the pandemic and the many evils that have affected us. Along with vaccines, fraternity and hope are, as it were, the medicine we need in today’s world.

Pope Francis, @Pontifex on Twitter

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Christ teaches about the kingdom of God in parables. Using simple yet deep imagery from life, he reveals the mystery of God’s life. The kingdom of God is like a field, where both wheat and weeds grow together, side by side, until the harvest time (see Mt 13:24-30); like a seed, which grows into a large tree (see Mt 13:31-32; Lk 13:19). The kingdom of God is like leaven in flour (see Mt 13:33; Lk 13:21); and like a treasure hidden in a field, a pearl of great value, and a fishing net (see Mt 13:44- 50). The kingdom of God is also like a king who forgives the debts of his servants (see Mt 18:23-35), like a householder who generously rewards the labourers working in the vineyard (see Mt 20:1-16), like a king who invites guests to the wedding of his son (see Mt 22:1-14), and like a man who has entrusted his servants with talents that they might increase them (see Mt 25:14-30). The kingdom of God grows in the world, as seeds in the earth, until the time of the harvest (see Mk 4:26-29)

(Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Christ 

– Our Pascha # 210)

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January 24, 2021

The words of the Sacred Scripture were not written to remain imprisoned on papyrus, parchment or paper, but to be received by a person who prays, making them blossom in his or her heart.

The word of God is the antidote to our fear of having to face life. In speaking to us, the Lord reminds us that we are in his heart, that we are precious in his eyes, and that he holds us in the palm of his hand.

Let us not ignore God’s word! It is a love letter, written to us by the One who knows us best. In reading it, we again hear his voice, see his face and receive his Spirit.

Pope Francis, @Pontifex on Twitter

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Let us not ignore God’s word! It is a love letter, written to us by the One who knows us best. In reading it, we again hear his voice, see his face and receive his Spirit._

Peace is an important value, essential for the development of not only the individual, but whole nations and states. As a value, peace is based on the principle of respect for the human person—his or her life and dignity. 

(Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Christ 

– Our Pascha # 987)

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Each one of us Christians is a branch of the one vine which is Jesus; and all of us together are called to bear the fruits of this common membership in Christ.

Christian unity can be achieved only as a fruit of prayer. Jesus opened the way for us by praying. Our prayer for unity is thus a participation in the Lord’s prayer, who promised that any prayer said in His name would be heard by the Father.

Pope Francis, @Pontifex on Twitter

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Sunday of Zacchaeus

January 17, 2021

Thus, repentance is enlightenment, the crossing from darkness to light. Until we see the light of Christ we will not be able to recognize our own sins. The closer we come to God, the more clearly we see how sinful we are. The light of Christ illumines us and leads us to repentance, to a vision of beauty rather than deformity, to an awareness of God’s glory rather than of our own destitution.  

(Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Christ – 

Our Pascha # 784)

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A society is all the more human to the degree that it cares effectively for its most frail and suffering members, in a spirit of fraternal love.

We possess a great wealth that depends on what we are: the life we have received, the good within us, the indelible beauty God has given us by making us in his image. All these things 

make each of us precious in his eyes, each one of us is priceless and unique in history.

Pope Francis, @Pontifex on Twitter 

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Sunday before Theophany

January 10, 2021

Christ brings regeneration to humankind, and he chooses the waters of the Jordan to signify this. In Holy Scripture, water is a symbol of elemental forces and death, and simultaneously a symbol of cleansing, rebirth, life, and the grace of the Holy Spirit. By means of water, God “drowned sin ... in the days of Noah ... [and] at the hand of Moses he set free the Hebrew nation from the bondage of Pharaoh ... [and] by fire and water through Elijah brought back Israel from the error of Baal” (Trebnyk, Rite of the Great Blessing of Water for the Feast of Theophany, Third Prayer). By immersion into water (baptism), Christ washes away the record of Adam’s sins. The waters of the Jordan regenerate all creation. In the Jordan, Christ “has renewed through water and the Spirit our nature grown old through sin” (Trebnyk, Rite of the Great Blessing of Water for the Feast of Theophany, Third Prayer).

(Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Christ 

– Our Pascha # 200)

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The first step towards an attitude of worship is to “lift up our eyes”. When we lift up our eyes to God, life’s problems do not go away, but we feel certain that the Lord grants us the strength to deal with them.

Pope Francis, @Pontifex on Twitter 

Sunday Before Theophany

January 3, 2021

The Son of God, “who covers himself with light as with a garment ... today is covered by the streams of the Jordan.” Christ himself “has no need to be cleansed by them; but through the cleansing that he himself receives he bestows regeneration on us.”(Theophany of our Lord, Great Compline – Stichera for Lytia) “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness’ ” (Mt 3:13-15). The God-man enters into the Jordan waters: “As a man he came to be baptized, and the Jordan feared him as God and turned back. As a man he bared himself and entered the water, and the Father testified that he was God, saying: ‘This is my beloved Son.’”(Ilarion, Metropolitan of Kyiv, Sermon on Law and Grace, 26)

(Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Christ 

Our Pascha # 199

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We too can change evil into good each day. Loving actions change history: even the ones that are small, hidden, everyday. For God guides history through the humble courage of those who pray, love and forgive. 

Every other person is my brother or my sister. In everyone, I see reflected the face of God, and in those who suffer, I see the Lord pleading for my help. I see him in the sick, the poor, the unemployed, the marginalized, the migrant and the refugee.

The Son of God was born an outcast, in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God. He came into the world as each child comes into the world, weak and vulnerable, so that we can learn to accept our weaknesses with tender love.

Pope Francis, @Pontifex on Twitter 

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Sunday, December 27, 0220

SUNDAY AFTER  CHRISTMAS

According to the liturgical texts, the birth of the Child “from a mother without a father” is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Daniel about the rock hewn from the mountain without human hands (see Dn 2:45). In the Incarnation, the Son of God “came from the bosom of the Father, and in his ineffable self-emptying he took on our lowly state.” Through the most holy Mother of God, he became what he had not been before—a human. The Church sings of the Mother of God thus: “The bright and spiritual cloud, filled with heavenly rain, today rises above the earth, in order to drop dew upon it and to water it.”

(Catechism of the Ukrainian

 Catholic Church. Christ – Our Pascha # 191)

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Jesus does not wait until we are good to love us, 

but gives Himself freely to us.

Instead of complaining in these difficult times about what the pandemic prevents us from doing, let us do something for someone who has less: not the umpteenth gift for ourselves and our friends, but for a person in need whom no-one thinks of!

Solidarity finds concrete expression in service, which can take a variety of forms in an effort to care for others. And service means caring for the vulnerable members of our families,

 our society, our people.  

Loving our neighbour as ourselves means being committed to building a world in which everyone has access to the goods of the earth, in which all can develop as individuals and as families, and in which fundamental rights and dignity are guaranteed to all. (Migrants Day)

Pope Francis, @Pontifex on Twitter 

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Sunday, December 20, 0220

The Church celebrates the coming of the Son of God into the world with the feast of the Nativity of Christ. The birth of Christ is announced to the shepherds by the angel of the Lord: “To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Christ, the Lord” (Lk 2:11). The Fathers of the Church extolled Christmas night as a day of joy and peace:

“Today the Bountiful One became poor for our sake ... Today we receive a gift for which we did not ask ... This present day threw open the heavenly door to our prayers ... Now the Divine Being took upon himself the seal of humanity, in order for humanity to be decorated by the seal of Divinity” 

(Isaac the Syrian, Homily on the Nativity).   

(Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Christ 

– Our Pascha # 190)

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I ask God to inspire, in the hearts of all, respect for the life of our brothers, especially the most fragile and helpless, and to give strength to those who receive them and care for them, even when this demands heroic love.

Prayer during the time of Advent helps us to remember we are not more righteous or better than others, but that we are all sinners who need to be touched by God's mercy.

Advent is the time we are given to welcome the Lord who comes to encounter us, and also to verify our longing for God, to look forward and prepare ourselves for Christ’s return.

Pope Francis, @Pontifex on Twitter 

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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2020

The catholicity of the Church reflects her mission to gather together people and entire nations and to cultivate in each person a sense of responsibility not only for self, but also for others and, ultimately, all humanity. (see Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 192). In addition to providing a sense of personal responsibility and participation in the life of one’s own Christian community, catholicity opens a person to other individuals and communities for the purpose of creating communion with them, and actually offers the experience of such communion. Catholicity brings a spirit of conciliation, in which various communities outgrow their own group interests and engage in a culture of dialogue and mutual support in order to overcome misunderstandings and conflicts of all kinds.     

(Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Christ – Our Pascha # 923)

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God listens to the cry of those who invoke Him. Even our reluctant questions, those that remain in the depths of our heart. The Father wishes to give us the Holy Spirit, which inspires every prayer and transforms everything. It is a question 

of patience, of supporting the wait. 

I want to be close to all doctors and nurses during this time in which the pandemic calls us to be near all men and women who suffer. Thank you for drawing near to them, thanks for your tenderness, thanks fo