The Head of the UGCC on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord: When a person accepts God's plan for him, then he feels happy every day

“And he who rejects this vocation,” continued the Primate, “denies himself every day, struggles with the most secret, deepest desires of his heart.”

Today the Church celebrates one of the twelve largest holidays in the liturgical year - the Lord's Presentation at the Temple. According to the preacher, this holiday has a special meaning for each of us and we are all called to experience it deeply.

This holiday is connected with one event, said His Beatitude Sviatoslav, which we hear in today's Gospel reading. Jesus Christ was brought to the temple in Jerusalem forty days after His birth, according to Old Testament law.

“The Son whom the Virgin Mary and Joseph the Betrothed place before God today is not the son of men, it is the Son of God. He is brought to the temple, and He shines as salvation for all people. This little Child - the fulfillment of all the promises given to Abraham in the Old Testament, the fulfillment of all hopes and aspirations of every man of all times and nations," said the spiritual leader.

St. Augustine, the preacher recalled, said that the human heart is like an underground gallery. In order to illuminate it, you need to enter it with a lamp and then you can see as far as the light reaches, until the end of the gallery.

“In the same way, we," His Beatitude Sviatoslav believes, "in the light of Christ can fully discover and understand our thoughts, aspirations and desires. Sometimes they can scare us. But, on the other hand, this light is designed to illuminate the earthly path of each of us and to understand our task, which we must carry out in our lives - the task which we call ‘vocation.’”

Today the Church of Christ also celebrates the Day of Consecrated Persons - people whom the Lord God has called to special service in the Church. During the Liturgy, His Beatitude Sviatoslav ordained five young priests for the Kyiv Archeparchy.

"We rejoice that those young men were not afraid to admit to themselves that the Lord God was calling them to the priesthood," the Head of the Church said. “May your ministry be the light of salvation for the enlightenment of the nations and for the glory of the people whom the Lord God will entrust to your pastoral care," His Beatitude Sviatoslav wished.

At the end of the Liturgy, the Head of the UGCC traditionally consecrated the candles that the faithful brought with them.

The UGCC Information Department