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Ukrainian Catholic Church

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Christmas message of His Greace Bishop Peter

Christ is Born!

In the past year much has happened and continues to happen to inspire us in our faith. At this time of year when we celebrate Saint Nicholas, the Nativity of Christ and Theophany, we give some thought to people who have inspired us in our faith during the year.

The pope is challenging us to a renewal in our live s. In his first apostolic exhortation, he raises a list of significant issues. The pope says that Christians should renew their personal encounter with Jesus Christ. "I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since "no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”. We are called by the pope to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lives of the people in our lives for whom the Gospel is a fairly abstract concept. "We cannot forget that evangelization is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him.” The pope calls us to bring the Gospel into people’s lives and not to wait for someone else to do it. Become a missionary.

His Beatitude the Patriarch is also saying the same type of thing. "The Vibrant Parish — A Place to Encounter the Living Christ,” In his pastoral letter, the patriarch speaks of the elements needed to "grow in holiness and unity in Christ Jesus.” This is the ultimate purpose of the plan 2020, where the whole church will be undergoing a renewal until the year 2020. We are being challenged to embrace new ways of being a church.

The youth is also challenging us to become more open. Young people now, are subject to different influences than the older generations were. We cannot expect them to be the same as their parents and grandparents. A young person presumes the internet. Many have never lived without computer and internet access. Recently the Eparchial pastoral council had a meeting where the young people told us, that we need to become more internet literate. Most people do not reject the church and its teachings. People do though expect that the church will be where they are. We are committed to becoming a community which is far more internet friendly. We all have a lot to learn from each other. I invite young people to offer their talents to the church. We need young people to help us talk to their own age.

We look at the news from Ukraine. One cannot look at the scenes from Maidan and not be moved. The scene where young and old, from different parts of the country, people of all sorts of religious and political experiences come together and voice their protest in the name of freedom was moving. This was not something organised by one party or another. It was a matter of students using facebook and twitter. It was they who called their parents and grandparents to stand up and say, "I want to be free”. They are an example to us. We too are indifferent to the corruption that is around us.

In this season of joy, we are called by Jesus to listen to the church telling us to consider our lives and our communities. We must renew our commitment to Jesus. There is much that is positive around us. Let us just take time to listen to it.

May the new born Jesus keep us in His care.

+Peter

Bishop of the Eparchy of Saints Peter and

Paul, Melbourne

Category: Bishop's appeals | Added by: abat (2014-01-04)
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