CHRISTMAS PASTORAL

Join with us in being Christ's instruments of healing and justice

Nativity Archpastoral Letter of the Council of Bishops of the Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.

To the Venerable and Christ-loving clergy, monastics and devout brethren of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.:

May the peace of Christ be with you.

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

The above cited words of our traditional Nativity greeting, words taken from the Nativity canon, which flow from the spiritual genius of our father among the saints and in faith, Gregory the Theologian, words which we have echoed, beginning with the feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God - December 4. Like light from a spiritual star they have guided us to this celebration of "God with us" - the Nativity according to the flesh of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ, in the year of grace 2002.

In his homily on the Birth of Christ, Gregory the Theologian reminds us, as he reminded the faithful of his time, that the true meaning of this annual observance is based upon our Heavenly Father's profound love for all humanity in sending to earth His Only-Begotten Son - for the life of the world and its salvation.

We remind you, the spiritual children of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, whom Almighty God in His love has entrusted to our archpastoral care, that our traditional celebration of the Nativity of Christ, conditioned by our preparations during Advent/Pylypivka, far surpasses the secular observance with its fleeting satisfaction and short-lived rewards. Our celebration - a Eucharistic one - is centered on the greatest gift, given to humanity, Christ the Only-Begotten Son of God.

Our Orthodox Christian Ukrainian liturgical observance of this eight-day period of joy and the traditional carols, which accompany the celebration of "God with us," make it extremely clear that, in the words of Gregory the Theologian, we, who descend from a spiritual lineage imprinted with the spirit of men and women of faith and spiritual quality like the Venerable Volodymyr, the Blessed Olha, the sainted hierarchs Ilarion and Petro of Kyiv, among others, "keep the feast, not after the manner of the non-believer, but in a godly manner ... in a manner which is above the word; as a feast which is not ours but belonging to Him who is ours...a feast of healing and recreation."

We live in a century that continues to witness the daily machinations of the Evil One. We witness the slaughter of brethren by brethren. Rumors of anticipated "even more spectacular and crippling attacks" intensify the post 9/11 climate of tension and anxiety in the U.S.A. and many other countries. Brethren of Middle-Eastern features, many of them observant Orthodox and Oriental Christians, are readily suspect and viewed as a clear and present threat. The Church of our native Ukraine suffers under the yoke of division. The Christ of the Nativity event of which the Venerable Gregory the Theologian speaks invites Ukrainian Orthodox Christians to be instruments of recreation and healing, namely to put aside personal agendas and ambitions, which continue to divine, subdivide and weaken us and to seek after and labor for the cause of the Kingdom of God and His justice. Such justice is the inalienable right of all of His children - even those who call Him by a different name and worship Him in a different tradition.

As bishops who witness to the works and words of Our Lord and Savior, we invite you at this very crucial time in world history to join with us in being Christ's instruments of healing and justice so that all might benefit and be recreated in the mercy, compassion, love and justice exemplified by the Son of God, Who calls us to fraternity and sanctity.

Embracing all of you in the love of this, which St. John Chrysostom calls the beginning of all feasts, we beseech your prayers and assure you of our love and prayer.

Christ is born! Let us glorify Him with our entire being.

Ý Constantine, Metropolitan
Ý Antony, Archbishop
Ý Vsevolod, Archbishop

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 5, 2003, No. 1, Vol. LXXI

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