Head of the UGCC Patriarch Sviatoslav is making a pastoral visit to Argentina from March 17 through 28. According to the Information Department of UGCC, within the visit, the patriarch is to call to several communities in different areas of Argentina and Paraguay.
Head of the UGCC Patriarch Sviatoslav is making a pastoral visit to Argentina from March 17 through 28. According to the Information Department of UGCC, within the visit, the patriarch is to call to several communities in different areas of Argentina and Paraguay.
Patriarch Sviatoslav started an official meeting with the community of Buenos Aires on Sunday, March 19, at 10-00, in the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin, where he led the Divine Liturgy.
During a sermon on the Sunday of Veneration of the Cross Patriarch Sviatoslav said:
“I am moved to have come back to you again, to be able to stay on this holy land, where once the Lord God strengthened my vocation to the priesthood. The Cathedral of the Holy Virgin will celebrate next year the 50th anniversary of its consecration by the patriarch Iosyp Slipyy, and this year our community in Argentina celebrates its 120th anniversary. Our first immigrants to a new land built churches in the first place. Today's liturgy is a sign that the power of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is given to us through Christ's cross reveals itself before our eyes.”
“This Sunday is called Veneration of the Cross and it marks the halfway of Lent. God is beside us in our way from slavery to freedom,” said the preacher. “We see all prototypes of the Old Testament fulfilled, realized in full open when Jesus was crucified on the cross. His cross is a symbol of victory, the source from which still produces the living water.”
According to Patriarch Sviatoslav, today Ukrainian people are having a similar experience to that of Israelites walking their way from slavery to freedom: “We are going through perhaps one of the most difficult periods in the modern history of Ukraine. Ukraine is bleeding ...”
"Let us see the crucifixion of Christ this Sunday of Veneration of the Cross and kiss his cross. The sign of a kiss is a sign of acceptance. God tells us: "I am with you. I led you to this way of freedom. I have put in your heart the desire for freedom and justice. I inspired you with the dignity that brought you to the Maidan. And I have to travel this road with you. I am the source of your strength and ability to survive the worst difficulties,” continued the head of the church.
According to the head of the UGCC, the cross of the Lord is the banner of victory. It is the tool that Jesus passed into the hands of its people: “The Lord gives us a sign of strength and invincibility ... So when you are looking for the answer to your question, feeling the thirst and hunger of your personal and spiritual quest, go to church.”
At the end of the sermon, Patriarch Sviatoslav said: “Your Mother Church in Ukraine will never leave nor forget you. I wish each of you had a personal life story and felt the power of God, which is granted through a holy and life-giving cross. May the Mother of God, under whose cover lives and prays this diocese, teach you and show her Son, crucified on the cross as a sign, a symbol and flag of victory of good over evil, truth over falsehood, of power over the apparent weakness.”