Let s reveal our ability to do good works! - His Beatitude Sviatoslav on the World Day of the Poor

Monday, 16 November 2020, 22:39

Today, listening to the words about liberation, true freedom and dignity of the sons of God, we ask in prayer that God will help us understand the words of the great Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky: "At the moment of your death you will have only what you gave to the poor." His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, emphasized this during a sermon in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the 23rd Sunday after the Descent of the Holy Spirit.

Pictures 1 / 10

Back

Use ← → to view it

See also:

Commenting on a passage from today's Gospel about the meeting of Christ with the demon, the Primate said, "this man was deprived of his liberty and was under the power of an unclean spirit. He was naked i.e. stripped of his dignity. Moreover, the man did not live in the house, but in the graves. Such a horrible description shows that evil is a destructive force that takes away a person's dignity and freedom. Everyone who does evil becomes its slave. Evil always humiliates a person.”

According to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the dignity of the person is manifested precisely when we do good. Human freedom is a person's ability to do good.

In his sermon, the Father and Head of the UGCC reminded that today the Church around the world marks the Day of the Poor. His Beatitude Sviatoslav also noted that in the modern world man often lives as if there is no God, or the needy.

"Modern man, having a mind enslaved by the illusory world of television or social networks, thinks that there is no sorrow and trouble. He lives as if there is no human poverty and pain. As a result, a person becomes insensitive to the plight of another,” said the Primate of the UGCC.

Poverty, as the bishop noted, has many faces. In addition to ordinary poverty, there is cultural, spiritual poverty, and loneliness.

"Usually, when we hear about the poor, we think of a person who has no goods or resources for a decent life. However, this is only one of the faces of poverty. We have a great plague of cultural poverty today. Lots of people do not have access to education. Those who have full pockets, very often in their way of treating others, demonstrate big spiritual poverty," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The Head of the UGCC said that today, on the World Day of the Poor, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine and in different parts of the world launches a campaign "Feeding the hungry."

"There is no one among us who is so needy and poor that he could not help others," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav, urging, "so let us discover in ourselves our own dignity and ability to do good!"

"May this day help not only those in need, but also each of us. May this day be the moment when good will reign in our souls, and, like that ray of light, will eliminate all darkness,” the spiritual leader of Ukrainians wished in conclusion.

The UGCC Department for Information