To know how to be wealthy is a form of art, - Head of UGCC

What is poverty? “This issue has been investigated and discussed from different corners, in XX century particularly. A lot of scientists have been discussing a fight against poverty, even politicians made attempts to find a meaning to these two: poverty and wealth”, noticed Head of UGCC.

According to his words, relying on Gospel, Church differentiate this notion not in the sense of lack or abundance of some material resources. “We are trying to realize these realities from the perspective of presence or absence of all resources necessary for a complete human’s development. Thus, it’s not only material things that matter. The point is that how all the resources a person possesses and society she lives in give her necessary facilities to develop her personality”.

As His Beatitude Sviatoslav said, religious distinguish these notions, being related to the faith in God. “First of all, we need to understand that the source of every good and of our life, the aim of our life is God Himself. We all need to feel deprived in front of His face. Either we have something or not. Either we are rich or poor, a person should humble herself before God. Since every good comes from the Lord. The Christ says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is Kingdom of Heaven”.

“On the other hand, the Word of God invites us to get rich in God. We hear this phrase from the Gospel. It is related to the next: man’s life doesn’t depend on what and how much he possesses. And to get rich with God means to share what I have. Sharing doesn’t require being rich. We can easily share our time, knowledge, skills, talents, and, apparently, our resources. Thus, to be rich is an art”, Head of Church assumes.

As His Beatitude Lubomyr used to say: the one who knows how to be wealthy, knows how to serve this wealth to his neighbor.

“When we realize that those terrestrial goods we have as a personal possession, yet, has a universal mission – they help us not only by hoarding terrestrial goods but by sharing it with others”, thinks His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky used to say that by the end of our lives, everything what remains is what we left for a neighbor.

“That’s why during this program I’d love us, while thinking over the sense of wealth, the notion of poverty, we still be able to learn how to be rich toward God, hence by the end of our life path not with full pockets but with a full hearts and hands of good deeds, we can stand before our God’s face”, Head of Church added up.

The UGCC department for Information