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Christ is Risen!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today is May 1, 2022, and Ukraine is already experiencing the 67th day of this brutal war, this confrontation of our people against the Russian aggressor.
The east and south of Ukraine were on fire again that night and the day before. Our Odesa was again hit by missiles and, in fact, the Odessa airport was destroyed. Kharkiv and Mykolayiv continue to be bombed, and these cities are being shot at with various weapons.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
Today is May 1, 2022, and Ukraine is already experiencing the 67th day of this brutal war, this confrontation of our people against the Russian aggressor.
The east and south of Ukraine were on fire again that night and the day before. Our Odesa was again hit by missiles and, in fact, the Odessa airport was destroyed. Kharkiv and Mykolayiv continue to be bombed, and these cities are being shot at with various weapons.
But Ukraine stands. Ukraine is struggling. Ukraine is praying. Even more, the Ukrainian army is gradually liberating our land from the Russian occupier.
Yesterday we saw joyful footage of the Ukrainian army liberating several villages around Kharkiv, from where the Russians shelled this multimillion-dollar city. They saw tears of joy on the faces of older women who kissed and hugged their liberators. Ukraine prays for an end to this war.
Our Mariupol continues to be a special pain, from which people are rescued in different ways, in different ways… However, the enemy is trying to do everything to make the city a great cemetery. He digs new mass graves, mocking the local population.
Today we celebrate the Sunday of the Apostle Thomas, or Antipascha. This is a special day when we feel the resurrected Christ present among us in the community of the faithful, who comes to our fears through a closed door. He comes to our unbelief, allows himself to be touched and to see that we are not unbelievers but believers.
On this holiday, in the context of the bright Easter season, I want to reflect with you on the bliss of the Gospel about a pure heart. Christ says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." We know that seeing God is one of the most important aspirations of every human being. To see God, to live before His face, to contemplate Him means to be eternally happy, to have eternal life, and to be in the fullness of that life. But the Lord God created man as his visible image. And the heart itself is the core of human thoughts and, in general, humanity, the mirror that depicts, shows this world the glory of the invisible God.
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons said that the glory of God is a man who lives in fullness. And so that invisible God becomes visible in a pure heart, which means purity of relations, man's attitude to God, and therefore one man to another. As Moses sought the face of God, the Almighty revealed his name to him: "I am what I am. I'm here for you. "
And to be pure in heart means to truly see the present God in your heart, to build a pure, unselfish relationship with Him, not to use Him as a means of achieving your own goals or satisfying your lusts and passions. To see God in your heart means to share in His resurrection. We talked about this resurrection gift that the Lord God gives to man in the Sacrament of Baptism, and that the fullness of God's presence must be manifested in our relationship with God and our neighbor.
May the Lord God show his face in Ukraine. May he bless Ukraine through pure-hearted people who, even in the circumstances of a brutal war, know how to keep their purity and who look into God's face and then see His image in every person and try to serve Him in that person. Such people are already blessed, rejoice in the purity of their hearts and see God.
We know that our Blessed Martyr Omelyan Kovch said in the Maidanek concentration camp: "Here I see God, who is one and the same for all." This father was able to keep a pure heart even at the bottom of the Nazi concentration camp.
May purity of heart be our strength in these military circumstances, our guarantee of victory over evil. God bless Ukraine! God bless the Ukrainian army! God bless those who seek Your face! God bless those who glorify Your holy Name with a pure heart!
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!
Yesterday we saw joyful footage of the Ukrainian army liberating several villages around Kharkiv, from where the Russians shelled this multimillion-dollar city. They saw tears of joy on the faces of older women who kissed and hugged their liberators. Ukraine prays for an end to this war.
Our Mariupol continues to be a special pain, from which people are rescued in different ways, in different ways… However, the enemy is trying to do everything to make the city a great cemetery. He digs new mass graves, mocking the local population.
Today we celebrate the Sunday of the Apostle Thomas, or Antipascha. This is a special day when we feel the resurrected Christ present among us in the community of the faithful, who comes to our fears through a closed door. He comes to our unbelief, allows himself to be touched and to see that we are not unbelievers but believers.
On this holiday, in the context of the bright Easter season, I want to reflect with you on the bliss of the Gospel about a pure heart. Christ says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." We know that seeing God is one of the most important aspirations of every human being. To see God, to live before His face, to contemplate Him means to be eternally happy, to have eternal life, and to be in the fullness of that life. But the Lord God created man as his visible image. And the heart itself is the core of human thoughts and, in general, humanity, the mirror that depicts, shows this world the glory of the invisible God.
Saint Irenaeus of Lyons said that the glory of God is a man who lives in fullness. And so that invisible God becomes visible in a pure heart, which means purity of relations, man's attitude to God, and therefore one man to another. As Moses sought the face of God, the Almighty revealed his name to him: "I am what I am. I'm here for you. "
And to be pure in heart means to truly see the present God in your heart, to build a pure, unselfish relationship with Him, not to use Him as a means of achieving your own goals or satisfying your lusts and passions. To see God in your heart means to share in His resurrection. We talked about this resurrection gift that the Lord God gives to man in the Sacrament of Baptism, and that the fullness of God's presence must be manifested in our relationship with God and our neighbor.
May the Lord God show his face in Ukraine. May he bless Ukraine through pure-hearted people who, even in the circumstances of a brutal war, know how to keep their purity and who look into God's face and then see His image in every person and try to serve Him in that person. Such people are already blessed, rejoice in the purity of their hearts and see God.
We know that our Blessed Martyr Omelyan Kovch said in the Maidanek concentration camp: "Here I see God, who is one and the same for all." This father was able to keep a pure heart even at the bottom of the Nazi concentration camp.
May purity of heart be our strength in these military circumstances, our guarantee of victory over evil. God bless Ukraine! God bless the Ukrainian army! God bless those who seek Your face! God bless those who glorify Your holy Name with a pure heart!
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!
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