From the Head of the UGCC on the 293 rd day of the war: “Ukrainian youth, reveal God’s memory of you!”
Today, I would like to say to every boy and every girl: you all are very dear and valuable to the Lord because you are the creation of His hands, God’s beloved son and daughter, amid a world full of hatred and malice, and death. For this, He pays attention to you and remembers you with love — you have to believe in God’s memory of you. These words were addressed by the Father and Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav to the youth in his daily military address on the 293 rd day of the full-scale war that the Russian invader and occupier deployed on the peaceful Ukrainian land.
“The enemy is unceasingly shelling Ukraine’s peaceful cities and villages wherever he can reach with his weapons. We are observing an inevitable escalation, an increase in attacking in our long-suffering Sumy Oblast. Our prayer arises to Kherson, which Russia systematically destroys with its artillery. Again, local hospitals were affected, including the maternity hospital. Furthermore, people died in Kherson under Russian strikes”, the Head of the Church asserted.
Under the tragic circumstances, the archbishop says, God continues to speak to the heart of Ukrainian youth. “And we, as a congregation of believers, as a community of the Church, are called to support our heroic youth, embrace them with attention and love, and pray for them.”
The Primate noted that we often sing the hymn “Memory Eternal” with tears in our eyes only when we bury our Heroes and accompany our relatives and friends on their last journey. However, according to him, God’s memory of man is the hymn of our hope, an assurance that He never forgets us, and His memory gives us life.
“The Lord remembers us during our life and accompanies us with his memory even when we pass from earthly life to eternal life. Its memory is not a hard disk on a computer or gadget that records and archives all our data. Instead, his memory is one of tender heart and compassion,” the Patriarch explained.
He also assures that God’s love knows far more than ups and downs, more than all shortcomings, reconciliations and prohibitions. Instead, God’s love is willing to grant us more opportunities, rather than rush into judgement.
Ukrainian youth — the Father and Head of the UGCC appeals — reveal God’s memory of yourself! Our dear girls and boys, try to feel and perceive God’s love, which the Lord wishes to pour out on each of you. In this brutal war, the confidence that God loves us makes us invincible when facing evil and fighting for our Motherland’s future.”
More than that, the Patriarch also recalled the victims of the war. According to him, the United Nations periodically updates data on victims of the war in Ukraine. But, of course, we are talking only about cases registered in compliance with all bureaucratic requirements. “According to recent updates, at least 17,000 people died and were injured in Ukraine, including 424 deaths and 781 injuries to children.
But God only knows how many soldiers and civilians died and were wounded. Perhaps one day we will find out, but God remembers everyone,” said the Head of the UGCC.
The UGCC Department for Information
