To renew our national strength in the war of attrition, let us love! We are living on credit: Head of the UGCC
To renew our national strength and save us from giving up in this war of attrition, let us love our brothers and sisters, our soldiers defending our future today. It is of them, of this regenerating and saving power, that Christ speaks when he says that “no one can love more than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” We all need to realize that we live on the credit of time and the opportunities they give us to live, love, bear fruit in love, and grow rich in the Lord God, stated the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in his sermon on December 3, the 26th Sunday after the Pentecost, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv.
The Patriarch noted that the time of pre-Christmas fasting step by step enhances our expectation of the birth of the Savior. He then referred to the parable of the foolish rich from today’s Gospel of Luke 12:16–21. This parable is not about property but about relationships, and fasting is a time to test our relationships, His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized.
“This parable today invites us to reconsider the three most important relationships without which a person is not themselves: the relationship with God; the relationship with themselves, their soul, their self; and then the relationship with their neighbor, with those around them,” said the archbishop.
Explaining the words “the ground yielded an abundant harvest”, pointed out that “when the books of Scripture speak of the land, it is a space of communion between God and his chosen people. And the one who inherited this God-given land is already in a special relationship with the living God. It means that our life depends, first of all, on the ability to communicate with the living God. And God is alive first because He is a God who gives, not seizes,” the preacher said.
The Primate also cited the words of the rich man: “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry”. The archbishop offered to ponder our real needs and aspirations in life. “Do we really live only to eat, drink, and be merry? In fact, we can hear that our soul needs some other food, some other drink. And this hunger and thirst can only be satisfied with God’s love”.
The rich man in the parable has excluded his neighbor and his happiness and comfort from the outlook. He thinks only of himself and wants to consume everything the earth produces. “True love is about giving not only what I have but who I am. Only the one who knows how to give as generously as the Lord God gives is alive,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized.
The Head of the UGCC noted that we are approaching a new stage in the fight against the Russian aggressor this winter. The leaders of our country are speaking of a new phase of the war, which “is a war not only to exterminate the Ukrainian people but also to deplete our forces.”
And it is natural, he said, that everything that comes from the earth is exhausted. All the resources that we humanly use tend to run out. “In order to survive, to win, to renew our strength every time, to quench the thirst of the soul, we need more than ever in preparation for the Nativity of Christ to restore our life relationship with God, a true relationship with my own self and a true life-giving attitude towards my neighbor,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
“And this week we have a unique opportunity,” said the Patriarch, “It so happened that with the change of the calendar, the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6 and the feast of the Ukrainian army come on the same day. What does the Lord God want to say to us through this? In order not to get tired, learn to love. When it is difficult and hard for you, when it seems that you are drained or exhausted, ask yourself: whom do I love? In whose name do I live? Who is my greatest wealth? And I think that St. Nicholas, who is the embodiment of practical love for us Christians, may he teach parents on this day to look at their children as a great gift from God, which will renew your maternal and paternal strength every time. For only love does not fail, and when we give it, it multiplies.”
