“The struggle Ukraine is engaged in is a confrontation between the old and new humanity in Christ”: Head of the UGCC on Epiphany
The enslaving Russian ideology proposes nothing more than a return to the old. They attempt to force upon us, re-adoption of the old imperial and Soviet ways of thinking and living. Even lies are being forcibly imposed on us, falsifying consciousness about the person. However, our people, are fighting for something new: the movement toward freedom. We want to live in a new way, we seek the renewal that Christ gives us in today’s life-giving impulse of his Epiphany over the Jordan. Today, we want to declare to the Moscow Pharaoh, who is once again sending his army to Ukraine from the north: “Let my people go,” as Moses once said to Pharaoh in Egypt.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that on this day, the Church of Christ celebrates the great feast of Epiphany, the revelation of God to man and the world. Christ comes to Jordan to perform a gesture of atonement on himself — a gesture that repentant sinners performed.
“Today, we witness the revelation of the Son of God to humanity and the world. Proclaimed as His Son by the Heavenly Father, confirmed by the Holy Spirit, who hovers over the waters. St. John, the Baptist and Forerunner of the Lord, is the one to confirm, testify, and witness this action,” the Primate noted.
He remarked that there are three ways of expressing the meaning of Epiphany. First of all, regarding the baptism of Christ in Jordan, the Word of God reminds us of the creation of the world, when the Creator created the universe out of nothing, when light began to shine amid darkness. “Epiphany means a manifestation, a blast of some creative power of God that changes the one who contemplates and participates in this event,” said the archbishop.
“To deepen our understanding of the manifestation of God’s power, the Liturgy of the Church recounts the story of Pharaoh and his entire army perishing in the waters of the Red Sea; the power that had kept God’s people in bondage was also defeated. Instead, a power that calls for and guides toward freedom emerged.”
And in the third image that unfolds today at the Jordan, we witness the symbolism of unclothing and clothing. The Apostle to the Nations speaks to all who have participated in this Jordanian Epiphany through the Sacrament of Baptism, declaring that we have shed the old man with his deeds, sins, and iniquities and have adorned ourselves with the new man. Into Christ Himself! We have become a renewed humanity in Christ. Let us listen to what it means to shed the old man and put on the new. The Holy Scriptures of the New Testament tell us that in the baptism at the Jordan, we not only saw the Epiphany in the Son of God, we saw the phenomenon of the new creation of man,” said the Patriarch.
He noted that two realities seem to coexist within us in our earthly life — the old and the new. As participants in the great Epiphany of the Jordan, we, as Christians, receive a new light of understanding.
“Remarkably, the Apostle Paul emphasizes that the main manifestation of the old is falsehood. We see how falsehood today becomes a weapon, a weapon of enslavement of Ukraine and the world. But the new always wins. Because it wins not by the power of man alone, but by the power of God,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav assured.
Then he asked: “Seeing today the destroyed cities and villages, seeing today the blood, wounds, and cries of the Ukrainian people, we ask you, Lord, to descend to us with your renewing, transformative power.”
The Liturgy was followed by the blessing of water on the Dnipro River.
The UGCC Department for Information
