“The Lord God remains faithful even when we betray”: His Beatitude Sviatoslav on the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
His immense mercy towards us is bigger than our shortcomings. Our confidence lies in the assurance that it is not our faithfulness to God, but rather God’s faithfulness to us, stated the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in his sermon on the feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, January 1, at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Kyiv.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that on the eighth day after Christmas, the first day of the new calendar year, the Church of Christ celebrates the day when Jesus was brought by his parents to the temple, where he received legal circumcision and thus his name. He was named Jesus, which means “God saves.”
Circumcision was a sign of the covenant, the agreement that the Lord God made with Abraham. This covenant between man and God means that God pledges his faithfulness to man, and man pledges his faithfulness to God. This union is unequal, because God is eternal, omnipotent, and man lives on earth for a certain period of time. But God calls man to Himself, even though He knows that he will not honor his pledge. Circumcision was intended to be a reminder of the promise of faithfulness made to God. On this day, Jesus Christ signifies salvation. God saves man because, despite man’s unfaithfulness, He preserves His saving love for him,” said the Patriarch.
He noted that this word about fidelity marks the time of the New Testament. On the same day, January 1, the Church honors the memory of St. Basil the Great, “who dedicated his entire life to being a devout Christian.”
Today, on January 1 st, we embark on a new year. As the archbishop explained, the number eight carries the message of something entirely new—something not known in ancient times when people of the Old Testament lived in the rhythm of the seven days of creation. The eighth signifies the message of a completely new reality that will unfold when God touches His world in a new way by entering it.
“As we begin this new year, we hear God’s word addressed to us, that His [God’s] great mercy and faithfulness to us is everlasting. The Lord God will be with us in this new era, in this new year, because He is faithful. Even when we can betray our pledges, oaths, and sometimes even our Christian vocation,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
Then he urged to pray for all Christians of Ukraine, for the faithfulness of Christian couples, for consecrated persons — monks, nuns, our clergy, for all who fulfill their civil professional duty, soldiers, for their fulfillment of the military oath, our doctors, employees of various services.
“Let’s pray that our people will be faithful to God, true to the promises of baptism that we received here in the Dnipro, in the time of St. Prince Volodymyr,” said the Head of the UGCC. “Let’s pray that we, the Christians of Ukraine, who renewed our union with God at the time of the consecration of this Patriarchal Cathedral, will live in accordance with the promises given to God. And then we will witness in our personal, social, state, and national life the great mercy and faithfulness of the Lord to us forever.”
After the Liturgy, the Patriarch led a prayer for the deceased in the aftermath of the Russian missile attack on December 29.
The UGCC Department for Information
