CHRISTMAS PASTORAL LETTERS (01/05/97)

CHRISTMAS PASTORAL LETTERS

Open your hearts and souls to the Light

To the Esteemed Clergy, the Deaconate in Christ, the Venerable Monastics and God-loving Spiritual Children of the Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church:

Peace and grace be to you from the Light of Light - Christ Jesus!

Once again, the spirit of Bethlehem, the town whose name means "House of Bread" invites us to open our hearts and souls to the True Light, our Heavenly Bread, the Only-Begotten Son of the Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ. It is He who desires to shine through them in this despondent world, a world that awaits the life-giving Light of His immeasurable love, peace and joy.

Once again, as it was almost 2,000 years ago, Bethlehem, "The House of Bread" invites us all to stand with the heavenly powers. Together with them, we have the honor to proclaim the joyous and wondrous news that in this world, the Savior, the inexhaustible Source of true peace, is born. It is He who calls us and all humanity to establish peace and benevolence on earth by establishing good will among ourselves.

Bethlehem, "The House of Bread," invites us to join with the shepherds, the guardians of the flocks entrusted to them, who with a pure heart received the heavenly message and set out to that "House of Bread." Let us set out together with them and partake of the Bread of life, foretold in the law and the prophets, for it is He who is the guarantor of certain peace on earth and true joy in our hearts.

The spirit of Bethlehem invites us to stand with the Magi, the learned of the time, who were brought through knowledge and investigation to the Source of wisdom. Together with them, let us welcome the Light which comes from The Light, who physically appeared, dispelled the darkness that enveloped the world, and whose Light no power can extinguish.

Let us once again receive the birth - the incarnation of the Eternal God - hymned through the ages by the cultures of those nations who were enlightened by Him. In truth, this marvelous event cannot fully be comprehended by the human mind nor adequately expressed in words. Profoundly deep and wide is the Divine Love that eternally springs forth and transforms all who allow it to enter their life.

The Nativity of Christ invites us all to continual rebirth in Christ Jesus. It calls upon us to identify ourselves with Him, with the Light that enlightens every person who comes into this world.

Christ the Lord shares His saving work with His people, His Church, His Mystical Body. We, who were reborn in the waters of Baptism are His mouth, His hands, His feet in this world. We are the members of His reasonable flock, His Church, which is His Mystical Body. The honor of belonging to Christ's Mystical Body and of fulfilling the responsibilities of such membership belongs to all, and especially to those, who via tonsure or the laying upon of hands are set aside to fulfill special and important ministries in the Church. We speak here of the monastic and priestly ministries. We speak here of those who have a special calling from God, a calling that is seen as particular gift for those who have been baptized and clothed in Christ.

Our Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church is in need of shepherds! The Church anguishes due to a shortage of true pastors, namely a lack of those whose ministry has not been marred by the desire to achieve power and control or seek the first place, instead of being the servant of all. The Church seeks out dedicated shepherds, those who will completely dedicate themselves to the Good Shepherd, the High Priest according to the order of Melkhizedek - Jesus Christ, and together with Him, in the spiritual darkness of this world watch over and care for His spiritual flock, heal its wounds and direct it on the path of truth, to Him who says, " I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6).

We Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church beyond the borders of Ukraine, feel, together with the flock entrusted to our care, that vacuum which has arisen due to a lack of true vocations, especially in this Ukrainian branch of Christ's Ecumenical Church. Aware that "the harvest is rich, but the laborers are few" (Matthew 9:37), we proclaim the year of the Lord, 1997 - the third prior to the completion of the second millennium from the birth of Christ, to be the Year of Vocations.

During this solemn period of celebration and spiritual refreshment, we focus our attention on Him who speaks to Orthodox Ukrainians in the words recorded in the Gospel according to St. Luke: "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to His harvest" (Luke 10:2). We fervently appeal to you dear brothers and sisters: contribute to the increase in responses to serve in the Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Do this via living prayer, namely by an example of your personal love and dedication to Christ. Encourage those who are called to entrust themselves to Him who calls out: "Follow me ..."

This Year of Vocations, which we have proclaimed, gives us and especially parents - the first teachers of faith and piety - the opportunity to be channels of the voice of God, Who cried out to all: "Come, follow me!" Let us remember the words of St. Paul the Apostle:" "If a man sows in the field of the Spirit, he will get from it a harvest of eternal life. We must never get tired of doing good, because if we don't give up the struggle we shall get our harvest at the proper time" (Galatians 6:8-9).

The feast of Christ's Nativity compels us to believe in that gift of divine Love, which makes it possible to love others, friends and enemies, and among the former, our brethren in sovereign Ukraine. It is they who await from us concrete manifestations of this love!

Thus, inspired by this solemn feast, we sincerely greet all of you - the spiritual sons and daughters of our Church, especially the archpastors, pastors, monastics and all of our brethren in Ukraine, and embrace all of you in the love of the Good Shepherd. Let us be the common instruments of His love for the world and our planet.

Christ is born! Let us glorify Him!

Ý Wasyly
Metropolitan, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

Ý Constantine
Metropolitan, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and Diaspora

Ý Anatolij
Metropolitan, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Diaspora - Western Europe

Ý Ivan
Archbishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

Ý Antony
Archbishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and Australia
- New Zealand Eparchy

Ý Vsevolod
Bishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.

Ý Paisiy
Bishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.

Ý Yurij
Bishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

Ý Ioan
Bishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Diaspora - Great Britain Eparchy

Ý Jeremiah
Bishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of South America

Let us focus our attention on Jesus Christ

To the Reverend Clergy, the Religious and Devout Faithful of the Eparchy of Stamford:

In my Advent letter, I mentioned that the entire Christian Church is preparing for the Great Jubilee of the fast-approaching year 2000. Since Christianity has been of such overwhelming importance during these two millennia, and remains such a pre-eminent faith today, this is a jubilee of God's love and grace for all men and women. We are privileged to live in this special moment of time, the year of the Lord's favor, this approaching "great springtime of Christianity." By the power of the Holy Spirit, together we should make the most of this time for the glory of God.

Almost everywhere in the world, people use the dating system that reckons time by the conventional year of Christ's birth, the "Year of Our Lord." Thus, even the numbering of the years reminds us of the unique, unparalleled effect of the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. This was the turning point in the history of the entire human race.

Every jubilee is a joyous occasion. The celebration of jubilees began in the Old Testament, as God was preparing His people to receive Jesus Christ the Savior. The joy of each jubilee is above all a joy of reconciliation, a joy of the forgiveness of sins and debts, a joy of freedom, a joy of conversion. Thus the holy father, Pope John Paul II, teaches us that the Church "cannot cross the threshold of the new millennium without encouraging her children to purify themselves, through repentance of past errors, past infidelity, past inconsistency and slowness to act as we should."

Those sins which have damaged the unity of the Church, the unity which God Himself wills for us, His people, are certainly among the sins that require a firm commitment to repentance and conversion. In these last few years of the second millennium, all of us should invoke the Holy Spirit together, imploring forgiveness and correction, and a miraculous outpouring of the grace of Christian unity.

This year, 1997, the holy father calls us to focus our attention upon Jesus Christ. the very Word of God, made Man by the power of the Holy Spirit. In coming to know Jesus Christ more closely, we place special emphasis upon the Holy Bible. As the pope teaches us, "in the revealed text, it is the heavenly Father Himself Who comes to us in love and Who dwells with us, disclosing to us the nature of His Only-Begotten Son and His saving plan for all men and women."

For the Great Jubilee to be the miraculous time of grace that we need and ask from God, all of us, all Christians, must do as much as possible to live up to the great challenge of the year 2000. The preparation itself will be a special grace for the Church, and for all people. In particular, the pope invites every family to be involved in some special way to get ready for the Great Jubilee.

Again, this must be a time when we dedicate ourselves to Christian unity, especially through prayer. In his wonderful letter Orientale Lumen, in 1995, the holy father teaches that "we cannot come before Christ, the Lord of history, as divided as we have unfortunately been in the course of the second millennium. These divisions must give way to rapprochement and harmony." The holy father expressed his special longing for the renewal of full communion between Catholics and Orthodox; we of the Ukrainian Catholic Church share that longing acutely, so we must pray fervently and sacrifice generously to bring the long-awaited moment of full communion closer.

Each year of preparation will have a particular emphasis on the Holy Theotokos, the Blessed Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. In 1997, the holy father invites us to reflect on the Theotokos "in the mystery of her divine motherhood." Mary is not only the Blessed Mother of Christ our God. In Christ she becomes the Mother of Christ's Body, which is the Church. By Christ's gift, she becomes the Mother of each of us.

So we entrust our longing for full communion between Catholics and Orthodox to the intercession of the Holy Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. We ask her to approach the throne of mercy of her beloved Son, Our Lord, and implore this stupendous grace, this divine gift of unity.

The Great Jubilee must be a time of effective evangelism, when Christians bring the Gospel to those around us who need to know Jesus Christ and His saving redemption. Our Lord Himself told us the secret of effective evangelism, of effective witness: "By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). So may this love shine forth in us, in our families, in our parishes and in our communities, so that our Church today may be like that first Church in Jerusalem, "fully of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32).

I wish each of you and all of you every joy in the celebration of Christmas, and in the approaching feast of the Holy Theophany, the baptism of Our Savior. May you have every blessing from God in the year of grace that lies before us, and may your life give witness to Christ for all those around you.

ÝBasil
Bishop of Stamford
(New York and New England)

Given on the Feast of the Conception of St. Anne, 1996, at the Cathedral of St. Vladimir the Great, Stamford, Conn.

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