“Let us not be afraid. Let us believe and ask God to touch each of us,” — His Beatitude Sviatoslav in Bila Tserkva
Today, Jesus Christ sent me to tell you: dear children, do not be afraid; only believe! The history of the Church in different parts of the world shows that where people seek the Lord God and believe in Him, He will give them such strength that no one can resist. So the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, emphasized during a sermon in the parish of St. Archangel Michael in the village of Little Vilshanka of Bila Tserkva district, Kyiv region, on the 24th Sunday after Pentecost.
“Today, it is a great privilege to be here, among you, at a particular time, in a small, some would say, cold church, but together to feel the presence of Christ himself, the living God, among us. We all experience a lack of light and heat. But we see that the Lord God can turn our sufferings and pains into something we do not expect. He can turn pain into a sense of God’s incredible presence, His power. Even death can turn into resurrection,” the Primate mentioned.
Therefore, the Head of the Church retold the plot of today’s Gospel passage about the healing of a bleeding woman and the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter, paying attention to the central gesture — the touch with which Christ heals and resurrects today. In his opinion, this touch is essential and meaningful.
“How can you experience the touch of the living God?” — encouraged the bishops to think and share their thoughts. In his opinion, it is possible to touch God, or rather to allow God to touch me, only when there is faith.
“Faith is a person’s openness to God, searching for His power. Christ was looking for at least one person in the crowd to whom he could impart healing power. I was looking for someone ready to receive the touch of the living God,” he underlined.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav pointed to the wounds of our people, which, according to him, we carry so deeply in our hearts today, particularly the pain of despair and the feeling of loneliness and abandonment.
“Today we can tell ourselves and the whole world that Ukraine’s stability, strength, and victory have a name. The peace for which we are fighting for our Motherland has a name. This name is the Lord our God, Jesus Christ. Christ’s words sound so strongly today: ‘Don’t be afraid, just believe!’. Today, He wants to touch us, and He is looking for those who believe in Him so He can transfer his power. He is looking for open, believing hearts to receive his healing power to heal our inner, physical, and spiritual bleeding that is our sin,” the Patriarch assured.
In the end, the Father and Head of the UGCC addressed the community of Bila Tserkva: “I am so pleased today to touch our wounded and sick community. How many times were we threatened? In various ways, they tried to prevent us from living in the fullness of our faith here, on the Ukrainian land of Bila Tserkva. That is why our community is so wounded. But where people need the Church, it will arise.”
