Head of the UGCC: Today God Himself is telling us–be not afraid!

"The phrase: ‘Do not be afraid’ disarms the enemy. When Ukraine ceases to be afraid, it begins not only to believe in its own victory, but to also be victorious," the Primate added.

The homilist noted that on this day, the Church celebrates one of the greatest Christian feasts. Our Byzantine spiritual tradition calls this feast the beginning of our salvation. "This is the great work of human salvation, which marks the beginning of the New Testament. The time of a new relationship between God and man begins today,” stated the Head of the Church.

To celebrate the Annunciation, to believe in the Good News in the midst of war, he believes, is something very special, something out of the ordinary, something deep, and deeply touching. "It’s because war is bad news, the worst thing that can happen to a person, to a country, to a nation, to the whole world," said the Primate.

Is it possible to celebrate the Annunciation, surrounded by bad news about the war? If so, what does that mean for us? At this time, when the enemy has trod on our land and made us cry, God is saying "rejoice"! Is that possible?

"Rejoice, -- not because you already have a human solution to resolving grief,” explains His Beatitude Sviatoslav, "but because God himself is embodied in your history, even in your grief and in your weeping.  Today in Ukraine, God weeps with us in order to take away our weeping, and to share with us his ultimate eternal joy."

The scriptural passage "The power of the Most-High will overshadow you," reveals the secret of Ukraine’s unbreakable strength.

"We saw how the enemy army began pressing on to Kyiv, and it is as if nature itself had begun to fight against them. The Ukrainian land itself, the rivers of Ukraine, and even the radiation in the Chornobyl zone ... The power of Most-High is strangely manifest in the struggle of Ukraine, which is fighting against evil,” the spiritual leader said.

The UGCC hierarch reflected that each of us now faces a very serious choice of what to believe, because “if we believe God's word," he stated, "about joy, about the ability to not be afraid, about the presence of God's power in our struggle, that is what will come true; that is, it will become the reality of our lives and experiences, and our history."

However, if we believe the enemy’s message, and allow ourselves to be intimidated, -- if we allow fear to paralyze our will, if we reject God's will and desire to resist evil with human strength alone, -- then, commented the Primate, this evil will materialize, and enter our homes, our cities and our villages.

Information Department of the UGCC