EASTER PASTORALS
Redemption comes to each of us
2006 Pascha pastoral letter of the Ukrainian Catholic hierarchs in the United States.
To the Reverend Clergy, Venerable Religious, Seminarians and the People dearly Beloved by God:
Peace in the Risen Lord and Hierarchical Blessings!
"To all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God." (John 1:12)
Dearly Beloved in Christ!
Christ is Risen! Khrystos Voskres!
"This is the day of resurrection. Let us be illumined, O people. Pascha, the Pascha of the Lord. For from death to life and from earth to heaven Christ our God leads us, as we sing the song of victory" (Ode 1, Resurrectional Canon).
By his sin, man separated himself from God. He fell back onto a condition of existence marked by sin, and his sin marred the rest of creation. Sinful man was cut off from God and enslaved in a world of suffering, corruption and death. His slavery was the grip of sin and its effects on the whole of his existence. His world was a world in which the powers of darkness held sway.
God in His love decided to save mankind. The origin of the redemption is the utterly free love of God for His creatures. This love is a self-giving love, for the gift by which God saves is the gift of Himself. God's plan is to raise men to the divine level and communicate to them a share in His life and glory. This was the purpose of God from the beginning, but the gift now comes to fallen mankind as a gift of salvation.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1: 3-5).
God our Father carried out His divine plan by sending His Only-Begotten Son into this world. The Incarnation was the supreme self-gift of God. The act of divine love by which we were redeemed is the act which transformed the manhood of Christ, brought Him out of this world of sin and death, penetrated Him completely with the Spirit and exalted Him as Lord of the whole of creation. This act has its source in the Holy Trinity. We were saved by the Father, through the Son and in the Holy Spirit. The Father glorified Christ by the Spirit and in doing so He glorifies us.
Redemption comes to each of us personally when the divine act, which reaches us through its embodiment in Christ and His work, effects the transition in us from death to life. We die with Christ and rise again with Him. But our passage from the world of sin and death to the order of resurrection and glory is not achieved at once. Our Christian life is a step-by-step advance toward its full perfection. Insertion into Christ and His mysteries is made possible by the Church and her sacraments (mysteries). Thus, the Mystery of Pascha opens up to us by way of the Apostolate and the Sacraments.
Our paschal joy is so great on the triumphant feast of the Resurrection of Christ, not just because God raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, but also God chose to include everyone of us in the Resurrection.
"Now all is filled with light: Heaven and Earth and the lower regions. Let all creation celebrate the rising of Christ. In Him we are established" (Ode 11, Resurrectional Canon).
"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26).
On this radiant and glorious feast of Pascha, We, the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops in the U.S.A., embrace you all in Christian love.
Imparting our blessings to you, we wish you joy in the presence of the Risen Christ.
The Most Rev. Stefan Soroka
Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the U.S.A.
Archbishop of Philadelphia for Ukrainians
The Most Rev. Robert M. Moskal
Eparch of St. Josaphat in Parma
The Most Rev. Richard Seminack
Eparch of St. Nicholas in Chicago
The Most Rev. Paul Chomnycky, OSBM
Eparch of Stamford
The Most Rev. John Bura
Auxiliary Bishop
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 16, 2006, No. 16, Vol. LXXIV
| Home Page |