Patriarch of the UGCC: “I ask God to give me the strength to repay the loan I have been receiving for 50 years”
In an interview for "Live TV", the Head of the UGCC shared his thoughts about the past years and expressed hope for the future. The Patriarch remembers the past with gratitude and looks forward to the future with hope, and sees in the service of the Head of the Church an opportunity to repay those loans that were entrusted to him by God, his family, and the Church.
This is reported by the UGCC Information Department.
Answering a question from a journalist of "Live TV" about the analysis of years lived, the First Hierarch noted that it is important not how many years in your life, but how much life in your years:
"I can say that life in those fifty years was a lot. And I want to thank God for all the active life waves and moments that he has given me so far."
The Head of the UGCC noted that he was "in a hurry to live" because at a young age he took on his shoulders many responsibilities and great responsibility. "I have always had the feeling that I "live on tick", that the Lord God granted me a certain credit – be it the credit of certain moments, or people that I once had, credit for gifts or abilities that finally every person has," he said.
The Patriarch said that most of all he felt the credit of trust that was shown to him by those people who were always close to him – parents and relatives: "They gave me a feeling and understanding that they trusted me."
However, the greatest gift or credit that the Head of the UGCC received in life is faith in God.
"This is a gift that I received in my family, from my parents, from my grandmother, my grandfather," he said, adding that, like the Apostle Paul, he feels indebted to those people who may not yet believe in God.
In the interview, the Primate mentioned with special gratitude the possibility of studying abroad. He spoke about a great thirst for knowledge, especially theological, which, in his opinion, created the circumstances of the persecuted Church: "When it became possible to learn, I always studied with the idea that I was learning for someone else, not for myself. His Beatitude Sviatoslav recalled, "I remember that in the nineties there were many seminarians, many young men and women who wanted to give their lives to the Lord God, but not all of them had the opportunity to get education abroad."
The Patriarch considers his ministry an occasion to return this credit of trust: "I have been paying off my debts for almost ten years, trying to share what the Lord gave me, and I want to not let anyone down in his expectations."
Also, the Head of the UGCC expressed hope that the Lord will give him the strength to pay back all the credit that he received during the fifty years of his life. "I ask God that with His help I fulfill my life's mission, leaving nothing for myself, in my pockets, in my heart, but that all that I have received – I give it away," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
