PASTORAL LETTER: Glorify Him with faith and love

To the venerable priests, deacons and devout faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the United States of America: May the grace, peace and love of the Prince of Peace be with you!

The birth of Jesus Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God and Giver of every good gift, fills all of the faithful with boundless spiritual joy, peace and comfort. Our Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church eloquently expresses this joy and feelings of peace and comfort in all of the liturgical services of these days of Nativity. Our pious Ukrainian people, with equal eloquence, convey this joy in their Nativity Carols, for Christ God, by becoming man, transformed by His divinity that which is human into that which is divine, and that which is earthly into that which is heavenly.

Having clothed Himself in our flesh, Christ the Son of God gave us the gift of new life and made us bearers of His justice, His peace and His love, and it is His desire that we be His genuine instruments. The source of our joy and comfort is the love which Christ brought to us on earth. Just as it is that without fire there can be no warmth, so it is that without love we cannot expect true justice, joy, happiness and satisfaction. All of the four Evangelists write about genuine love, especially the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John, whose Gospel and Epistles are abound with words concerning love of God and neighbor.

Our contemporary world, one of technological progress, has lost the meaning of true love, and has fashioned a world of pride, the source of all injustice. In Bosnia and Hercegovina, we witness atrocities committed in the name of "ethnic cleansing" which no one can justify. In Somalia, and in other countries, people suffer and die of hunger. In other countries, the homeless live and sleep on the streets and sidewalks of large and small cities, and there are very few good Samaritans to be found. In free and independent Ukraine, there are to be found those who are in need of our spiritual and material help. They, together with their brethren of other countries, knock at the door of our heart. In reality, it is Christ who is knocking, Christ for whom there was no room in Bethlehem's inn, Christ, who appeals to us to open the door of the inn of our heart, Christ who desires to be fed with the crumbs - even the meager assistance which we can give to Him.

The only way out of this sad situation in which the world finds itself, is a general renewal in the love of Him, who became man because of His love for all people. It is Christ, who calls us to such a genuine and unreserved love through His Church and through the life-giving and renewing Holy Sacraments which He established. Christ not only preaches love, but also imparts it, as a gift of the Holy Spirit, to us, the children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, to us, His contemporary disciples. It is only in Christ's love, which excludes no one, that we become strong, mature and creative.

The task of our Holy Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, reborn by the power and operation of the Holy Spirit, and the holy work of every son and daughter of the Church, is to transform the present civilization of technology, earthly interests, pride, injustice and hatred, into a civilization of love, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Let us therefore implore the Child Jesus, the Son of God, asking that the Holy Spirit enlighten all of us and guide as on the path of family, personal, parochial, eparchial, all-ecclesiastical and national renewal in the spirit of the Holy Gospel.

On the occasion of this year's celebration of the Nativity of the Son of God, and its related feasts of Naming, the New Year, Theophany and Encounter (Presentation), we convey to His Holiness Mstyslav I, Patriarch of Kiev and All Ukraine, our brethren in episcopal service, the clergy and faithful of our Church in the U.S.A., Ukraine and countries of the Ukrainian Orthodox diaspora, heartfelt Nativity and New Year's greetings and best wishes, and implore the Prince of Peace and Love, who was born in Bethlehem, to grant to all of us pure love, blessed unity, peace and spiritual joy.

Peace be to all of you, and love with faith from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who today is spiritually reborn in the Bethlehem of our hearts.

Christ is born! Let us glorify Him with faith, love and works of mercy.

ÝConstantine, Metropolitan
ÝAntony, Archbishop

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 10, 1993, No. 2, Vol. LXI

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