On the Day of St. John the Baptist the Head of the UGCC welcomed the faithful to pray before and after any good deed

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist is a great feast in Church, incredibly deep and good moment to know our Lord Jesus Christ better and experience His tangible presence in our personal life.

In today’s Gospel from Luke we hear two key words which reveal the sense of today’s feast. Words said by the father of John the Baptist Zechariah: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come to His people and redeemed them”.

The first word is “to come”. What this miraculous visitation means? “Sometimes this visitation might astonish us. These God’s visitations mean the beginning of a new era, new time”, explained His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

Nowadays these God’s visitations have a truly interesting dimension and outcome, because the second key word is “to redeem”. “The Gospel tells us about God who does not leave His people alone with their problems. The Lord strives to visit and redeem everyone who keeps their hearts open for His saving grace”, mentioned the Head of the Church.

The Major Archbishop reckons that God visited and redeemed our people too, mentioning that this year we mark the 30^th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. This God’s interference caused the collapse of the empire of evil and redemption of Ukraine. And this is something which belongs to treasures of our spiritual and national experience.

 His Beatitude Sviatoslav highlighted the need of one spiritual practice – to pray before and after any good deed.

At the end His Beatitude Sviatoslav recalled a story shared by one of the cellmates of patriarch Josyf Slipyi. “Despite being there, in exile, when they were forced for that slave labor, His Beatitude Josyf had been praying before and afterwards. It deeply impressed all the prisoners. It was a sign that God was visiting His people, His Church. It was a prophetic sign that a new era would come”, the preacher mentioned.