Ukraine Archbishop says "It hurts the heart the most to see the signs of inhuman torture: people with shot and broken limbs..."
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Daily Message of His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, May 5, 2022:
Christ is Risen!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today is May 5, 2022, and Ukraine is already experiencing the 71st day of nationwide confrontation against the inhuman, brutal Russian aggression against our Motherland.
Feeling the dynamics of this war and listening to the opinions that are heard everywhere, we understand that the intensity of hostilities is increasing. The enemy is trying at all costs to advance deep into Ukraine, b
ut the Ukrainian army is defending itself.
Again, many parts of our Ukraine were shelled by Russian missiles. Ukrainian Kramatorsk came under fire this morning, 25 people were injured.
We all pray for our Mariupol, for the heroic Azovstal, for the civilians and the military who are desperately resisting the Russian occupiers. Indeed, the entire world community is trying to save human life in a place that the enemy has turned into a large cemetery.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today is May 5, 2022, and Ukraine is already experiencing the 71st day of nationwide confrontation against the inhuman, brutal Russian aggression against our Motherland.
Feeling the dynamics of this war and listening to the opinions that are heard everywhere, we understand that the intensity of hostilities is increasing. The enemy is trying at all costs to advance deep into Ukraine, b
ut the Ukrainian army is defending itself.
Again, many parts of our Ukraine were shelled by Russian missiles. Ukrainian Kramatorsk came under fire this morning, 25 people were injured.
We all pray for our Mariupol, for the heroic Azovstal, for the civilians and the military who are desperately resisting the Russian occupiers. Indeed, the entire world community is trying to save human life in a place that the enemy has turned into a large cemetery.
Every day new mass graves and mass graves are found, especially in those territories that were liberated from the Russian occupier. It hurts the heart the most to see the signs of inhuman torture: people with shot and broken limbs, torn nails, tied hands ... and these are ordinary, civilian people. In their place, in that mass grave, each of us could be ... That is why we pray for all the innocent victims and do everything to save human life.
Today, in the midst of this despair and pain, I would like to reflect on the final gospel bliss, which sounds like encouragement and blessing, and which sums up all the gospel beatitudes of God's action in man.
This bliss says, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven." Today, even celebrating Easter, it is not easy for us to rejoice and have fun. On the contrary, I want to be sad and cry. However, we feel that this joy that Jesus Christ speaks of as bliss is not just human emotion or entertainment. This is the joy of the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven between us and the eternal, happy life of man today as a reward.
This reward, which will be fully in heaven, is not something distant and unknown to us. We already have it as a deposit, like a seed that may have yet to fall to the ground, die and be born. However, that seed is already there, and the feeling of the presence of heavenly power, of God's life here, between us, in this valley of tears, in the midst of the grief of death, is the cause of our joy. We hope for the fullness of what we already have. We rejoice that the Lord God has already begun His work, His presence, established His Kingdom here on earth, among us. That is why we are called to build and spread this joy. Joy will be in heaven and we must strive for it.
Let us strengthen ourselves and each other with the power of God, with the bliss of the Gospel that we have pondered over the past nine days. May God complete in us the work He has already begun. May he complete and reveal in our Ukrainian people the victory over death, over the devil, his servants and angels, which He has already begun by rising from the grave.
God bless Ukraine! God bless the Ukrainian army! God, strengthen us all in spirit! Come upon us, your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of joy, into our hearts, so that this heavenly joy of Yours may be our invincible force, which will become our fortress and lead us to victory!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, with His grace and love of man, always, now, and forever and ever. Amen.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Today, in the midst of this despair and pain, I would like to reflect on the final gospel bliss, which sounds like encouragement and blessing, and which sums up all the gospel beatitudes of God's action in man.
This bliss says, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven." Today, even celebrating Easter, it is not easy for us to rejoice and have fun. On the contrary, I want to be sad and cry. However, we feel that this joy that Jesus Christ speaks of as bliss is not just human emotion or entertainment. This is the joy of the presence of the Kingdom of Heaven between us and the eternal, happy life of man today as a reward.
This reward, which will be fully in heaven, is not something distant and unknown to us. We already have it as a deposit, like a seed that may have yet to fall to the ground, die and be born. However, that seed is already there, and the feeling of the presence of heavenly power, of God's life here, between us, in this valley of tears, in the midst of the grief of death, is the cause of our joy. We hope for the fullness of what we already have. We rejoice that the Lord God has already begun His work, His presence, established His Kingdom here on earth, among us. That is why we are called to build and spread this joy. Joy will be in heaven and we must strive for it.
Let us strengthen ourselves and each other with the power of God, with the bliss of the Gospel that we have pondered over the past nine days. May God complete in us the work He has already begun. May he complete and reveal in our Ukrainian people the victory over death, over the devil, his servants and angels, which He has already begun by rising from the grave.
God bless Ukraine! God bless the Ukrainian army! God, strengthen us all in spirit! Come upon us, your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of joy, into our hearts, so that this heavenly joy of Yours may be our invincible force, which will become our fortress and lead us to victory!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, with His grace and love of man, always, now, and forever and ever. Amen.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
Source: UGCC Youtube Channel
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