See p.. 5 for many opporttuniies tto enhance your prayerfull experiience of tthiis year’s Greatt Fastt.. OFFIICIIAL PUBLIICATIION OF THE UKRAIINIIAN CATHOLIIC EPARCHY OF STAMFORD ССіівваачч SSoowweerr VOL XXVIIIIII; No.. 2 STAMFORD,, CONNECTIICUT 06902 FEBRUARY 24,, 2013 www..stamforddiio..org GREA GREATT FASTFAST PASTORALPASTORAL OF OF THETHE UKRAINIANUKRAINIAN CATHOLICCATHOLIC HIERARCHYHIERARCHY OFOF THETHE U.S.A.U.S.A. To our Reverend Clergy, Reverend Religious, Seminarians and Faithful, Glory Be to Jesus Christ! This Pastoral Message for the Great Fast is written on the day which hon- praying, render constant thanks; such is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (5:16-18). ors Martin Luther King, a great civil rights advocate in the United States of As we enter the Great Fast, let us ask God to forgive us of any sadness America. His well-known proclamation beginning “I have a dream” inspired a and negativity that we may be harboring. Dedicate your conversion efforts to nation to respect the dignity of every person. Despite hardships and challenges, choosing to live a life filled with joy and gratitude. You and I are placed here to he sought to raise people to greater heights in their treatment of one another. We, joyfully express God’s love for His creation. There is a special joyful reason for your hierarchs of our Ukrainian Catholic Church in the which you have been called to be a part of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Seek United States of America, also have a dream. We hope for it enthusiastically as if your life counted on it, for your sal- greater joy and optimism amidst us in our relations vation and for the salvation of others. Choose to cele- between one another. We dream of a time when we will brate your daily life with the joyful practice of your faith. put aside perceived differences, as for example, between Cast aside all that takes away from your resolve to joyful- successive generations of Ukrainians, immigrant and non- ly celebrate your faith. Choose optimism over pes- immigrant. Our dream is to realize greater unity and soli- simism. Celebrate being a hope-filled people. Foster the darity amidst us. We dream of a time when our Church joyful and meaningful expression of faith with your loved will energetically embrace the evangelization of all people ones and with all whom you are blessed to meet in this by sharing the gifts and talents we so richly have been earthly journey. Those who feel called to the priesthood, blessed with by God. Our Liturgies are rich in mystery and diaconate, or religious life as a sister or monk are asked spirituality. They are often the best-kept secret we keep to yield to that joyful call. Say ‘yes’ to God’s invitation in from others, and even for some amidst us. We dream of you to rejoice as His servant for His Church. the day when we will joyfully and generously share these Why especially in this period of the Great Fast, gifts amidst ourselves and beyond ourselves. We pray for and always? Jesus sums it up so beautifully saying, “All the full participation of all in the holy liturgies for the salva- this I tell you that My joy may be yours and your joy may tion of souls. be complete. This is My commandment: love one We need to ask God to forgive us of our sadness another as I have loved you” (Jn 15:11-12). In a prayer and negativity. We are called to be joyful people of God. offered just before the dismissal at every Divine Liturgy, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta often said that “one we ask Jesus Christ to “fill our hearts with joy and glad- filled with joy preached without preaching!” You will recall ness”. Let His will be done! the account of the wedding feast at Cana, where Jesus We pray for your joyful renewal in this sacred transformed the water into wine. He responded to His time of conversion to joy in Jesus Christ! mother’s observation that there was no more wine. Jesus at first shows reluctance to do anything saying, “My hour has not yet come” (Jn +Stefan Soroka (author) 2:4). What changed His mind? Jesus’ first miracle was performed for the sake of Metropolitan-Archbishop of Philadelphia joy. How much room do we have in our lives for joy? Do our parish communi- ties reflect the joy of Our Lord, Jesus Christ? +Richard Seminack Repeatedly throughout the Gospels, we are reminded of the significance Eparch of St. Nicholas in Chicago of joy in the life of a Christian. The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the +Paul Chomnycky, OSBM Prodigal Son all conclude with the call to rejoice and to celebrate when that which Eparch of Stamford was lost was found. The seventy-two disciples returned in jubilation saying, “Master, even the demons are subject to Your name” (Lk 10:17). Zacchaeus wel- +John Bura comed Jesus joyfully into his home. Jesus comes down from the mountain after Apostolic Administrator choosing His twelve disciples and teaches, “Blessed are you who are weeping; you of St. Josaphat in Parma shall laugh”(Lk 6:21). St. Paul tells the Thessalonians to “Rejoice always, never cease Great Fast, 2013 Dear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exer- cise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on April 19, 2005, in such a way, that as from February 28, 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is. Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Pope Benedict XVI Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer. Announces His From the Vatican, February 10, 2013 Resignation BENEDICTUS PP 22 FEBRUARY 24,, 2013 SOWER MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI LLIIGGHHTT OONNEE CCAANNDDLLEE FOR LENT 2013 Jerry Costello for The Christophers "Believing in charity calls forth charity" A NUN RECALLS MARCHING “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16) A NUN RECALLS MARCHING WITH DR.DR. KINGKING Dear Brothers and Sisters, She’s been referred to as a “living legend,” a description The celebration of Lent, in the context of the Year of Faith, offers us a that Sister Mary Antona Ebo is quick to deflect. valuable opportunity to meditate on the relationship between faith and charity: “I guess if I thought I was,” she says without missing a between believing in God – the God of Jesus Christ – and love, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and which beat, “I’d have to take a step back.” guides us on the path of devotion to God and others. Not that Sister Mary Antona takes a step back for many 1. Faith as a response to the love of God people. In my first Encyclical, I offered some thoughts on the close relationship between the theological She’s taken quite a few steps forward, in fact, beginning virtues of faith and charity. Setting out from St. John’s fundamental assertion: “We have come to know and to 48 years ago in Selma, Alabama. That happened in March, 1965, believe in the love God has for us” (1 Jn 4:16), I observed that “being Christian is not the result of an ethical when she marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., responding to choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive his call for a peaceful protest to answer the then-recent Bloody direction … Since God has first loved us (cf. 1 Jn 4:10), love is now no longer a mere ‘command’; it is the Sunday violence. Now if all the people who claimed to have response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us” (Deus Caritas Est, 1).