“One can only have hope for tomorrow if one believes in God,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav

“Wealth does not come from the material world but only from a spiritual life and a union of a person with God.  Therefore a person who does not believe will always ache and suffer because in that person’s soul there is no Holy Spirit – rather some other spirit has taken hold of one’s soul,” stated (listen audio) His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), UGCC Head, during the Divine Liturgy on August 12, 2012 at the Patriarchal Cathedral of Christ’s Resurrection in Kyiv. According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, if a person is not a temple of the Holy Spirit, as taught by the Apostle Peter, then one’s spiritual vacuum will be filled by some evil.  The Primate believes that a person, who does not believe in God, cannot achieve stability in life.  “To hope in tomorrow, one can only if one believes in God. Because stability is only guaranteed by the faith which unites us with the Creator,” emphasized UGCC Head.  Thus, in early Christian symbolism, it was the anchor which was the symbol of hope since “it does not permit the stormy waves of the ocean to destroy the ship.” If we look today at Ukrainian society and even beyond the landscape of Ukrainian life, then we see that in today’s secularized world a person lives as if God did not exist,” continued the Primate.  “Step by step young people lose hope and are afraid of tomorrow.”  UGCC Head described an incident which he witnessed in Rome. He said that this year there was a march by young people demonstrating against the current economic crisis.  These young males and females considered themselves “the wasted generation.”   “In Ukrainian society, especially during the pre-election campaigns, we notice how often we are bounced around from one extreme to another.  Today --for us -- more than ever, it is important to find the path to the One who can truly give us hope, to rediscover the faith of our fathers, to live in it and to share it with our neighbors,” urged his Beatitude Sviatoslav.  Finally, he added, faith shows its power when we acknowledge our weaknesses to God. “Let us bring to God all our weaknesses, hardships and let us open to Him all the corners and twists of our lives, and we can be certain that God’s Power will prevail.  Let the Lord make us feel that He is our hope for tomorrow,” concluded UGCC Head.

UGCC Department of Information