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Easter Message of His Beatitude SviatoslavTo the Reverend Clergy and Faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Christ is Risen! "Let heavens rejoice in a worthy manner, the earth be glad, The Paschal Canon
"Let heavens rejoice in a worthy manner, the earth be glad!” Today joy and gladness unite the sky and land in one Paschal Liturgy, in which sound our Easter hymns. In his resurrection, the Savior, who overcomes death, restores the unity of the body and soul of the human being, gathers together all visible and invisible creatures that have been alienated from each other because of the sins of man. Sin is the greatest misfortune of man, for it deprives his friendship with God, brings division and discord in society, causes suffering for all creations. This is confirmed by St. Paul in his message to the Romans: "Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God… For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:21-22). The Risen Christ today brings the children of God the awaited freedom, and with them unites the entire universe. That is why this day the heavens and earth rejoice together with dignity and are glad! The Lord’s triumphant exit from the tomb removes all obstacles to the unity of the universe with its Creator. Leaving Hades, he breaks the gate of death – that which separated man from the Source of life, its Creator, and fills it with immortality. Today, "let the whole world, visible and invisible, keep the Feast” with us! The meaning and deep foundation of Easter celebrations are common experiences of unity around the world in Christ. During this year’s celebration of the Pascha of the Lord, we, the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, are called again and again to discover the Risen Christ as the unbreakable stone of unity of our people. Celebrating today the Savior’s victory over death, we, with the light of His resurrection, break all divisions and hatred, visible and invisible, that destroy our society in its social and church life. The Divine Savior warns us: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation” (Mt. 12:25). The Risen Christ in his body overcame the opposition, disagreement, and conflict that threaten individuals, peoples, and all humanity. He seeks to bring peace and unification to our Ukrainian people. However, we must open our arms to accept this gift from the hands of the Risen Savior. To open our hands means: to do away with personal ambitions, selfishness, greed; to put the good of the people over personal interests or the interests of political parties; to be ready to meet neighbors where there is talk of the common good. In the torch of Christ’s resurrection the believer cannot look at another person through the prism of hatred or revenge; he is ready to forgive even the enemy and reconcile with him. Who is not capable of forgiveness, does not understand the great message that the Savior brings us from the tomb – the message of unity and peace. The entire visible and invisible world today teaches us that we cannot live the full joy of Easter by living in the captivity of our own division: personal, national, or even political. Only together, by destroying all that separates us with the Savior’s strength, can we fully celebrate the Pascha of the Lord and feel the overall joy of a meeting with the Risen. As the Apostle Paul says: "For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall … so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace” (Eph. 2:14-15). Our Paschal wish is that in the unity and peace of Christ the whole world, visible and invisible, keeps the Feast, and so that in peace and unity the entire Ukrainian world is strengthened with the grace and life of the Risen! "For Christ our eternal joy has risen!” While we celebrate this year’s Easter, we remember the immortal figure of the servant of God Patriarch Josyf (Slipyj). He, as the adamantine ethnarch – the father of our nation – did not compromise with evil and so united different environments of the Ukrainian world: the prisoners of Stalin’s concentration camps, the faithful of the persecuted "silent” Church and all the dispersed Ukrainians who, by God’s strange ways, brought our Church to various continents of the world. His release from prison nearly half a century ago, like the victorious exit of the Risen Christ from the deathly dungeon, with the rays of Easter joy, lit, awakened, and gathered together the whole Ukrainian world. In his figure we see today that no human barriers and military boundaries can contain the all-embracing and unifying power of the eternal joy of Christ, with which His resurrected Church lives and grows. Dearly beloved in Christ! On this Feast of the Resurrection of Christ I want to greet each of you with the Paschal greeting. Let the words of the ancient Paschal greeting "Christ is Risen!” echo today wherever a Ukrainian heart beats, and call him to joy and unity with his brother and sister. Today we will share the message with all those in need, and bring this joy to all who mourn. Let the light of Christ that is triumphantly released from the tomb enlighten each of us, give strength and confidence, strengthen faith, hope, and love, and give its peace. Christ is Risen! + SVIATOSLAV
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On
this festive day of the Resurrection of Christ His Church, full of
heavenly light, we praise the Lord, who triumphantly emerges from the
sealed tomb. "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it” the Evangelist John (John 1:5) declares on this Paschal
night. As darkness cannot stop or limit the light, death and the tomb
could not hold back the Source of life – our Savior, who fills the
universe today with his light and his grace.
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