Ask God to Remove the Obstacles That Hinder Us from Hearing His Word: Head of the UGCC
On the 7th Sunday after the Pentecost, the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, in his sermon, emphasized the importance of opening to the Gospel of Christ, which has the power to heal a person’s spiritual blindness.
“Today, we must seek the Word of God, come to the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion as often as possible, ask the Lord to remove all those obstacles that prevent us from hearing it, to navigate the space and time in which we live today, to determine which way of earthly life we should follow Him, even when a terrible war is raging around us,” said the Head of the UGCC.
The Primate highlighted that today’s Gospel passage (Matthew 9:27-35) has three parts: the healing of the two blind men, the healing of the mute demoniac, and a summary of Christ’s special mission, during which He traveled through cities and villages, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing all diseases. Emphasizing the importance of the preaching of Jesus Christ, His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that “it turns into action, and His word heals.” According to the preacher, the word of Christ “not only teaches, not only makes it possible to realize or understand something better mentally, it heals every disease and every illness.”
Explaining the meaning of the passage about the healing of the mute demon-possessed man, His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that in the Old Testament, hearing (and therefore the spoken word) was “not only the main channel of communication between people, but also the main organ by which people perceived and cognized God.” Therefore, when Jesus Christ heals the mute man, He “removes the obstacle that prevented the demon-possessed man from hearing the word of God.”
“This word of God, uttered by Christ, is stronger than the obstacle of the evil spirit that rested in that man, and consequently this man became healthy,” said the Head of the Church.
When referring to the blind men, the Primate noted that they heard but did not see the works of God. His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized that the reason behind the healing was the faith of the blind men. He also added that the miracle took place not on the street but in a house.
“The place where the Gospel of the Kingdom is sounded today is the Church of Christ and every church. Wherever the word recorded in the Gospel is proclaimed, this proclamation is a sign of the presence of the Son of God among us, who speaks to us,” the Patriarch emphasized.
“Thus, the Church of Christ proclaims today’s Gospel to open the ear of the one who listens, to open the eyes of everyone who seeks God’s action, everyone who believes that Christ can do today what He did to those two blind men,” added the Head of the UGCC.
Calling on the faithful to develop their spiritual hearing and vision—forming the spiritual senses that will allow us to communicate with God in eternal life—His Beatitude Sviatoslav said: ‘What we hear today is the key to Christian resilience, the secret of Christian courage in times of harassment and persecution…
Just as a warrior cannot defeat the enemy if he does not have a thermal imager to see him at night, so we, Christians, cannot resist the fight against evil if we do not have open eyes of our minds, our spiritual eyes that see the Kingdom of God, Christ himself, present among us even in the darkest moments of this war.”
“The Gospel of the Kingdom is still being preached in Ukraine today. Christ, through his messengers, his disciples, bishops and priests, travels through cities and villages, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and performing the Holy Sacraments in our holy churches. Even today, He heals every disease and sickness by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit,” His Beatitude Sviatoslav added in conclusion and wished: “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”
The UGCC Department for Information
