Easter Pastoral of the Ukrainian Catholic Hierarchy of the U. S. A. to Our Clergy, Hieromonks and Brothers, Religious Sisters, Seminarians, and Beloved Faithful
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Україномовна частина знаходится на СТ. 5 The Sower OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF STAMFORD Vol. XXXVIII; No. 3 Stamford, Connecticut 06902 March 22, 2020 Easter Pastoral of the Ukrainian Catholic Hierarchy of the U. S. A. to Our Clergy, Hieromonks and Brothers, Religious Sisters, Seminarians, and Beloved Faithful. Pascha is the greatest and most joyful selves and leave something behind. Before feast in the liturgical calendar, a feast of we make a commitment to our spouse in overflowing happiness. It is interesting to marriage, we are called to let go of our note, however, that the Feast of Pascha independence. Before we respond to a begins with sorrow and emptiness. vocation call or make a career choice, we The Evangelists, in their telling of the are called to let go of other opportunities. story of Pascha, begin, not with the joy of At every step of life, in order to receive the Resurrection, but with the sadness of new life, we are called to empty ourselves the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene and in some way. And so it is in our spiritual the other women come, lamenting and life as well. sorrowful, early in the morning, to the Emptiness is part of the human experi4 grave of Jesus in order to anoint the body ence. Sometimes it can be seen as pain; yet of their beloved teacher. Instead of Jesus’ it can also be treated as a gift. We each body, however, they discover an empty need that emptiness in ourselves: that tomb. Horrified, they think that someone space that makes room for something new, has inexplicably stolen the body! Only that space that can be opened to God. then, do they hear the angel’s announce4 This is why during the time of Great ment of Christ’s Resurrection: “He is not Lent, which has just passed, the Church in here for he has risen, as he said he would. Come her wisdom, has asked us to empty our4 and see the place where he lay.” !Mt. 28:6" selves of the sins, temptations and daily Only then do they encounter the risen preoccupations that clutter up our lives. Christ and embrace him: “And suddenly, Why? In order to make room for Christ coming to meet them was Jesus….and the women came up to him and, who rises triumphantly from the tomb today and fills our spiri4 clasping his feet, did him homage” !Mt. 28:9" Only then, do they tual emptiness with the promise that his Resurrection brings receive their commission from Jesus: “Do not be afraid; go and tell each of us5the promise of eternal life! my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; there they will see me.” !Mt. Our prayerful wish for each of you today on this glorious 28:10" Feast of Pascha is that the indescribable and incomparable joy of First comes emptiness, then comes fulfillment. First comes Our Lord’s Resurrection from the tomb, fill our hearts and souls. sorrow, then comes joy. First comes death, then comes life. May this joy fill every emptiness within us, wipe away all pain Pascha begins with nothing and ends with everything! and fear, conquer every doubt and temptation, and remain with When we think about it, we can say that there is a tiny reflec4 us forever! tion of the Paschal story in each of our lives. Just as Pascha Let us take our example from the holy women who visited begins with emptiness so do our lives begin with emptiness. the tomb early on that first Easter morning. Let us embrace the Before we take our first breath, we are called to leave the com4 Risen Christ Who comes to fill our emptiness and let us with fort of our mother’s womb. And every day afterward in our life, confidence and in the sureness of our faith, in word and deed, every time we take a step forward, we are called to empty our4 spread the Good News of his Resurrection in our world! Christ is Risen! Indeed he is Risen! +Borys Gudziak Archbishop of Philadelphia for Ukrainians Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States +Paul Chomnycky, OSBM !Author" Eparch of Stamford +Benedict Aleksiychuk Eparch of St. Nicholas in Chicago + Bohdan J. Danylo Eparch of St. Josaphat in Parma +Andriy Rabiy Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia THE EDITOR & STAFF OF THE SOWER send warmest Easter greetings and best wishes for God’s blessings to His Holiness Pope Francis, his Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav, Metropolitan4Archbishop Borys, Bishop Paul, Bishops Benedict, Bohdan & Andriy, the clergy & religious, seminarians & novices, our sub4 scribers, and all the people of God of the Eparchy of Stamford of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. HAPPY EASTER! page 2, March 22, 2020 The Sower Angelus Prayers for Migrants Finding Healing After Fleeing War Tragedy or Loss On Sunday, 1 March, the first Sunday of Lent, the Holy Father urged the LIGHT ONE CANDLE faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for the Angelus, to pray for “dis# Fr. Ed Dougherty, M.M., The Christophers’ Board of Directors placed people, so many men, women and children banished due to war”. Earlier, he had commented on the day’s Gospel reflecting on Jesus’ temp# tation in the desert. In his book No Man is an Island, Thomas Merton The following is a translation of the Pope’s reflection which he gave in writes, “It is of the very essence of Christianity to face suffering Italian. and death not because they are good, not because they have meaning, but because the resurrection of Jesus has robbed them of their meaning.” Dear Brothers and Sisters, evil one wants to distract Jesus alternative to those of God. “Do This statement points to the fact that our faith as Good Morning, from accomplishing his mission this, there’s no problem, then God Catholics provides everything we need to find healing in On this first Sunday of Lent, by offering him a perspective of forgives! One day of joy for yourself the face of tragedy and loss. Suffering can be so painful the Gospel 6cf. Mt 4:14117 nar4 political messianism. But Jesus ...”. “But it is a sin! % No, it is noth# that it can cause us to recoil and close ourselves off emo4 rates that, after being baptized rejects the idolatry of power and ing”. Alternative paths, paths tionally in order to guard against being hurt. But our in the River Jordan, Jesus “was human glory and, in the end, that give us the impression of faith provides all the tools we need to face suffering and led up by the Spirit into the wilder# drives the tempter away, and self sufficiency, of enjoying life find healing so that we can ultimately help others to do ness to be tempted by the devil” !v. says “Begone, Satan! For it is writ# as an end in itself. However, all the same. 1". Jesus prepares himself to ten, ‘You shall worship the Lord your this is illusory. We soon realize The Christopher News Note Finding Healing After begin his mission as proclaimer God and him only shall you serve’” that the more we distance our4 Tragedy or Loss tackles this subject head on. It teaches of the Kingdom of Heaven and, !v. 10". At this point, the angels selves from God, the more us first that grieving is a part of the healing process and just as Moses and Elijah 6cf. Ex draw near to serve Jesus, who is defenseless and helpless we feel one that cannot be rushed. St. Gregory once said, “Let 24:18; 1 Kings 19:87 had done in faithful in handing himself over when facing life’s big problems. the widow mourn deeply. Let her perceive the loss that has been the Old Testament, he does so to the Father 6cf. v. 117. May the Virgin Mary, the inflicted on her.” He understood the necessity to grieve by fasting for 40 days. He Mother of he who crushed the and was known for demonstrating his own grief publicly, enters into “Lent”. head of the serpent, help us dur4 which in turn helped others to do the same. At the end of this period of ing this Lenten period to be vig4 There is no predictable timing for healing from loss fasting, the tempter, the devil, Jesus does not ilant when confronted with but there are things we can do to help ourselves get breaks in and tries to put Jesus temptation, not to submit our4 through that painful period. In his book Saintly to the test three times. The first dialogue with selves to any idol of this world, Solutions to Life’s Common Problems, Father Joseph temptation arises when Jesus is the devil. Jesus and to follow Jesus in the strug4 Esper writes, “The saints learned a certain solace through hungry. The devil suggests, “If gle against evil. Thus we too will service $ in responding to the needs of others, they found it easier you are the Son of God, command responds to the be victorious as Jesus. to bear their own sorrows.” these stones to become loaves of devil with the After the Angelus, the Holy The story of Anthony Ray Hinton exemplifies this bread” !v. 3". A challenge. But Father continued: reality. He was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit Jesus’ response is clear: “Man Word of God, Dear brothers and sisters! I and for which he was eventually exonerated. In his shall not live by bread alone, but by not with his own greet you all, people of Rome Christopher Award4winning memoir “The Sun Does Shine,” every word that proceeds from the words.