Heads of Christian Churches Address Believers on Easter
The primates and bishops of Ukrainian Churches issued Easter addresses.
Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate stressed in his address that there is no power in the world able to deprive us of the Easter joy as “it is given to us by the One who overcame death and the world which lies in the evil.”
“What happened two thousand years ago in Jerusalem on the Easter night remains an incomprehensive mystery to us. The human mind cannot comprehend the omnipotence and wisdom of God revealed in the Resurrection of Christ. But we can clearly feel the living presence of the resurrected Lord in Church, especially, on the night of the Easter triumph,” reads the address.
Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate pointed out in his address that the resurrection of Christ is the final victor over the physical death.
“Christ is risen from the dead. Death is overcome! Why is it overcome? Because it cannot embrace the One Who overcame sin. Where there is no sin, there is no death. The resurrection of Christ is the victory over the physical death and the final victory as it completes the defeat of spiritual death. Apostle Paul ascribes to Christ’s Resurrection undisputed importance: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. (1 Cor. 15:17). Indeed, there is no Christianity without the Resurrection of Christ. The essence of Christianity is in the Resurrection of Christ. Whoever does not believe in the bodily Resurrection of Christ cannot even be called a Christian. He is worse than an unbeliever,” reads the address.
Patriarch Sviatoslav of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church called the Resurrection of Christ “the feast of the feasts” and expressed a wish that “the Easter light should enlighten every soul, every heart and every home and family and strengthen everyone with God’s peace.”
“Today, our nation and society can be likened to the disciples of Christ who again experience loss of hope, disappointment and powerlessness as they observe their despised and crucified Master. We hoped for the revival of the free state but instead, we often experience the bitterness of disappointments and frustration of our illusions. How much do we all need this transformation of our whole society by the power of the Resurrected one! It is today that we proclaim, “Christ is risen!” And this is where we draw our hope and inexhaustible power. As we celebrate the light feast of Christ’s Easter, we firmly believe that even the slightest of our efforts will yield its good fruit if blessed by the Lord. Therefore, let us pray together for God’s mercy and blessing for our nation for it to remain a Christian people and grow in the faith and awareness of its own dignity and responsibility for its future.
The pledge and basis of our hope have been and always will be the presence of our resurrected Saviour among us and the assurance of the holy Apostle Paul, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31), reads the address.
The Head of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Mefodii (Kudriakov) stressed in his address that no event in the life of the Saviour “is glorified with such magnificence as the Easter.”
“The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the truth on which all our creed and hopes are based.
If we reject Easter, we will lose the New Testament and Christianity itself. If Christ did not rise, nothing would change in our life, there would be no hope for salvation,
people would continue to die in sins and their place of stay would be hell,” reads the address.
Senior Bishop of the Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith of Ukraine (Pentecostals), Mykhailo Panochko stressed in his address that “the Resurrection of Christ demonstrated to the whole mankind for all the centuries the mighty power of God’s Truth as it is eternal, Love as it is imperishable and Life as it is stronger than death, as it is written, “That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.” (Ef. 1:20).
