The Head of the UGCC at the beginning of the Synod: "All the heads of the state and leaders must understand that the Ukrainian people are not someone's proprietary"

For the canon start of the Synod Bishop Bogdan (Dziurakh), the Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, issued a decree of convention of the Synod of Bishops. The main topic of the synod is "Parish pastoral care and new challenges".

Participants came to the Synod from all over the world, where the faithful of the Church live. Also there were the guests of thу Synod, who took part in the liturgy, especially Archbishop Thomas Edward Gullickson, Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine, and representatives of the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Italy, France and Australia.

In today's Gospel we can hear the parable of Jesus Christ about managers in the vineyard who killed the son, the only heir of the owner to assign the vineyard ... On the basis of this parable in His speech to the faithful the Father and the Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav was reflecting over the vocation of each of us in the God's vineyard. "This parable - said the Preacher - about God's vineyard, its managers, its real owner and  God's Word is extremely important to us today. Every Christian, every man who became the member of the New Testament of people of God, member of Christ's Church, became the manager in God's vineyard ..."

This God's vineyard, believes His Beatitude, is our life, personal gifts and talents that the Lord God has given each of us:the gift of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy,  good singing and some other talents ... "But it is important to understand - asks to think the Primate - that we are not the owners of the vineyard, but only its supervisors who must nurture and develop these gifts of God and fruit and give them to the Lord".

Such God's vineyard for those who are called to family life is his or her family. "it is important, for example, that my father and my mother know and understand that their children are not their property, their children - are God's gifts to the Church and the people. Those children that the Lord God gives parents, belong primarily to Him. And parents, as good managers must nurture, care for those children, educate them,  grow in wisdom and holiness of God", - said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

Then the preacher spoke of other "vineyards": our people, our country ... "All those whom God gives the responsibility for the leadership - firmly convinced the head of the UGCC - must understand that the Ukrainian people are not someone's proprietary. We are not servants of any earthly ruler and we will never be. We are God's people, the sheep of His pasture. Our king and master, the owner of our history is our Lord God and all those whom He calls us as managers, leaders, but not the owners, servants, that should take care of this people, to build its state as a necessary condition of its heyday. But the fruits belong to God".

The spiritual leader of the Greek Catholics asked not to forget that every time we want to usurp God's vineyard where we make a raid and seizure of property of God, we always stand before the elections and once again the temptation to kill and crucify the Son of God. Because sooner or later we meet the living of our lives. Lord God will ask us about the fruits of manaing all those gifts that He has put into our hands.

In this regard, His Beatitude said opinion, which was made at the Patriarchal Cathedral of ending these days. "When a man realizes - рe said - that his life and those gifts that it has, is primarily God's property, it will always feel an obligation to God even tithing. This was the idea that when we work 40 hours a week, at least four o'clock our time should be given to God and neighbor. This is not our donation, which cast into the treasury not. The question of our time, our skills that we can serve our neighbor and to contribute to building God's vineyard - the Church of Christ, His kingdom on this earth".

Let's ask yourself, calls His beatitude, what is the manager I as a member of Christ's Church? What are the fruits of Christ and ask me what I can show him or give away.

Continuing the reflection of God's vineyard, Bishop addressed the members of the Synod. "What is important to us, bishops, who are successors of the apostles of Christ, to understand and comprehend, especially at the beginning of the Synod, that we are not masters of Christ's Gospel, we are not the masters of his truth. We are its servants. No bishop does not own his diocese or his exarchate. But there is only the manager that manages on behalf of the true owner, who is our Lord. How important we all understand, including clergy, our task of fruit cultivation in God's vineyard is to cherish the sanctity of the human soul and its time to give the fruits of holiness of the Church and our nation to God "- called to consider the spiritual head of the church leaders.

The patriarch asked people to pray so that "to be be good leaders, to recognize the Son of God who comes to us today. Recognize the face of God in his master all that we have.". Also called everyone to pray for the successful Synod.

Synod of Bishops will continue in Ivano-Frankivsk from 30 August to 6 September 2015.

UGCC Department of Information