Video-message of His Beatitude Sviatoslav. May 31th. 97th day of the war

Today is Tuesday 31 May and Ukraine is already experiencing 97 days of this great war, a war that Russia is waging against the Ukrainian people. And we thank the Lord God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine that we survived this night, and we see the light of this, yet another morning.

The whole east of Ukraine is burning again. The fiercest fighting, as we hear from official reports, is being fought in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The enemy uses all kinds of weapons. Last night, the city of Sloviansk, which was the first to suffer from Russian aggression in 2014, was even hit by rockets.

Luhansk region is literally on fire, also due to large-scale fires caused by the occupiers. 17,000 hectares of forest have already been destroyed. We see that this fire, makes it possible to imagine, to show us in a visible way that this war is a war of scorched earth, which is being waged by the occupier against Ukraine. The occupier exports grain en masse, plunders the cities and villages of Ukraine in various ways.
But Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, and Ukraine prays and believes in God, Who gives us strength, the strength to live.

Yesterday you and I reflected on the most important virtue with which the Christian life begins, the virtue of faith. We mentioned that faith is like a door upon which the Lord knocks. In the Book of Revelation, Christ says of Himself: “Behold I stand at the door and knock. Who will open it for me?”

Today I would like to reflect with you on the first fruit of the Christian faith, a virtue called hope. In such tragic, dramatic times, it seems that the whole world in which you lived until now, which you knew, is falling apart. There is nothing certain in such an uncertain time of war. What can one rely upon? What can one hope for?

Christian hope as a virtue was sometimes marked by the symbol of an anchor in early Christian images. Just as the ship's anchor in the stormy sea is a source of salvation and rescue. It makes it possible not to be destroyed, taken away, smashed by the stormy waves of the sea, in the same way, Christian hope is the anchor of the human person in the stormy sea of ​​this earthly life. Hope as a virtue must be distinguished from a mere sense of hope. We sometimes say, "I hope all is well." But we don't know if that will be the case. We are not sure.
The virtue of Christian hope, as a gift of God, as a fruit of Faith, is something very certain. This virtue of hope is born into action when we already possess what we hope for. The virtue of hope is similar to when we immerse a vessel in clear water and, taking out that vessel, this vessel is filled with that water. In the same way, when we immerse ourselves in God's life in the Mystery of Baptism through faith, then God fills us. And so, the presence of God in the inner space of man, the presence of that God, the fullness of which we expect is the content of Christian hope. We hope, as Christians, only in God, who is already present in us, but has not yet fully revealed Himself. Through faith we allow God to live in us, and we hope for the moment when we will live in God, when we will participate in His Eternal Life, just as a vessel is immersed in the rapid flow of pure, living water. Hope is the virtue of the traveler. That is, this is the force of a person that moves, that goes to its goal. When a person has already achieved his goal, then hope will be fulfilled. We are awaiting the fulfillment of Christian hope, but we already possess what we hope for.

I am often asked: “You who are in Ukraine during the war, do you have any hope?" I answer confidently: "Yes! Of course!" Because we are Christians. We already feel present in us and among us the God in Whom we put our trust. God's Word says, "Trust not in princes, in the sons of men in whom there is no salvation."

O God, You are the hope of Ukraine! O God, protecting our land, protecting our homes, cities and villages, our relatives and friends, we hope in You, alive among us! O God, show us this presence! Let us live this hope to the fullest and share this hope. O God, bless Ukraine! O God, bless the Ukrainian army! Give hope to those who have lost it. O God, bless our Ukraine with Your divine, holy, and just peace!

May the blessing of the Lord be upon you through His grace and love of humankind, always, now and ever, and for ages of ages. Amen.

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!