Head of the UGCC on the 362 nd day of the war: Mass deportations occuring in Zaporizhzhia
Russian passports are forcibly distributed in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region. Then men are mobilized into the Russian army against their will and thrown to the front line, or entire families are cast out from their homes. The same mass deportations are taking place as in Stalin’s time, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, said in his daily address on the 362 nd day of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
On this day, the spiritual leader continued to reflect on the Christian and human personal vocation of each of us.
“It is not enough to understand what the Lord is calling me to only once in a lifetime, to say yes to Him only once. One has to respond to the vocation every day, every morning, with every life decision,” the Primate said.
According to him, the leading people who help a person discover their vocation are their parents. “Parents, trying to help a child choose a profession or even a state of life, project their unrealized dreams and desires onto the child. This is wrong because every child is unique and has their own life path,” said the archbishop, emphasizing that this is wrong because every child is unique. Every person has their own life path. The Lord calls everyone individually.
Therefore, parents should not restrain their children from choosing their life status choices: married or single. Nor should they choose a spouse for themselves. Instead, they should allow the child to choose consciously and voluntarily, in absolute freedom, which shows what the Lord God is calling them to do, according to the manifestation of their conscience.
“Parents should sincerely help their child to interpret their vocation, and not choose instead of them. They should not impose their opinion or force them to choose a particular profession. For the vocation to be properly recognized, parents should look closely at the child, at his or her true preferences and skills, remembering that a son or daughter is not their property and that a father’s or mother’s view of the happiness in their offspring can be subjective,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The UGCC Department for Information
