“We move ahead with hope, because we are embarking on a new journey as Christians,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav
“Today we have entered the new year, concluding the jubilee Year of Hope, but hope has not been left in the past. We move forward in that hope, because we are beginning a new cycle as Christians.” His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said this in his homily at St. Basil the Great Church in Kyiv.
On January 1, the feast day of the Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the memory of St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, the Divine Liturgy was concelebrated by His Beatitude the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church together with: Father Josyf Shchur, OSBM, abbot of the monastery; Father Joseph Kralka, OSBM, protohegumen of the Province of the Most Holy Savior in Ukraine, Father Francis Onysko, OSBM, protohegumen from Transcarpathia, and Father Roman Ostrovsky, rector of the Kyiv Three Saints Seminary, along with many other clergymen.
In his homily, His Beatitude Sviatoslav drew attention to the profound meaning of the eighth day after the Nativity of Christ.
“Today we are experiencing a special moment filled with God’s powerful presence. This is a time that gives us the opportunity to sum up the past, look into the present, and, moreover, see the light of our future,” he noted.
Revealing the theological meaning of today’s holiday, the Head of the UGCC emphasized that in the Old Testament, circumcision meant belonging to God’s people: “Every child had to be circumcised on the eighth day in order to be a participant in all the blessings that the Lord God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
According to His Beatitude, what the patriarchs expected was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ: “The Apostle Paul says that all fullness dwells in this child—the fullness of the Godhead and, at the same time, human life.”
The Primate further emphasized that Christians today are already sharing in this fullness: “To be a Christian means to receive what Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hoped for. We receive the fullness that was expected, which was proclaimed by the entire Law and all the prophets. Being a Christian is the greatest gift that God can bestow upon each of His children. In the circumcision of Jesus Christ, we receive our Christian name.”
Recalling St. Basil the Great, the preacher emphasized that he was a student at the Athenian Academy of Philosophy, the highest educational institution of the Greco-Roman world at that time. “The most prominent people of the world at that time pursued their careers there, and their ideas were eventually implemented in decisions at the highest levels of Roman authority,” emphasized His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
According to the writings of his friend St. John Chrysostom, Basil the Great was distinguished by his maturity and inner freedom. According to the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, both of them sought truth and justice among the young elite at the Academy of Athens.
“And, as John Chrysostom says, ‘We found the fullness of that truth in Jesus Christ.’ In that school of imperial-level careerists of the time, the most honorable name for them was ‘Christian.’ For this fullness, which all nations, especially the Greeks and Romans, sought so much in their philosophy, culture, and intellectual endeavors, rests in the Child whose name is Jesus.”
His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that St. Basil the Great lived a short but incredibly fruitful life, going down in Church history as a reformer of monasticism and a great teacher of faith in the Holy Trinity.
Turning to the theme of the new year, the Head of the UGCC explained the Christian understanding of time as a moment of salvation.
“In Scripture, time is not a god, but a gift from God. St. John Chrysostom says that it is the greatest gift that we waste and neglect”, emphasized His Beatitude Sviatoslav. There is a saying in folk wisdom: “It is not so important how many years you have lived, but how much life you have lived in your years.” All this reflects the Christian understanding of time as the space of God’s presence.”
According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Christ enters the new year with us and is even ahead of us. “Therefore, time is not something we fear as Christians. It is an opportunity in which we make plans for the future, which we fill. Time, in the Christian understanding, is an opportunity to dream, because we know that the Lord will reward all the good we have done. Things that have eternal value begin here, yet will not perish forever. We therefore begin the new year with joy, not fear.”
After the service, His Beatitude Sviatoslav thanked everyone for the joint prayer with which the Church begins the new year and wished that it would be a year of God’s grace for Ukraine.
Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine, also addressed the faithful. Quoting the words of prayer: “… for all those who need Your great mercy, and those who love and hate us,” he called on them to remember their enemies in their prayers to God, because this is the power of the Christian faith.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav then greeted the monks of the Order of St. Basil the Great and thanked them for their service. Recalling the Basilian communities in Zvanivka in Donetsk Oblast and in Kherson, the Patriarch added: “May they hear that our prayer today is a prayer of remembrance and solidarity with them. May it be a special source of Christian strength.”
Separately, the Primate thanked Ukrainian soldiers and defenders who enable church and social life, and wished them endurance, God’s blessing, and victory.
In conclusion, the abbot of the monastery, Fr. Josyf Shchur, OSBM, thanked His Beatitude Sviatoslav for his paternal support, spiritual guidance, and solidarity with Ukraine, emphasizing their shared path of freedom and faithfulness to Christ.
“Especially, Your Beatitude, I bow my head before You and am most grateful to You for your constant support, for Your fatherly words, Your messages, and for being filled with Ukraine and teaching us to be filled with it. We look to you, we hear your words, and we want to walk with You, as You say, to the end, without yielding to anyone, because free people who love Christ, who have this gift of freedom, do not bow their heads to anyone,” said Fr. Josyf Shchur.
The UGCC Department for Information
