“The crucified Savior tells us today: I am going to the grave so that you may be raised!” — Head of the UGCC on Good Friday
Today, as we unite, finding the meaning of our passion and suffering, we hear from the crucified and buried God the word of hope: I die so that you may live! This is what the heroes who give their lives for Ukraine say to us. His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the UGCC, said this during a sermon at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ at the end of the Great Vespers with the placement of the Shroud on Good Friday, May 3, 2024.
The Head of the Church was accompanied in the service by Auxiliary Bishop of the Kyivan Archeparchy Rev. Yosyf Milan, Curial Bishop of the Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishop, Rev. Stepan Sus, Auxiliary Bishop of the Kyivan Archeparchy Rev. Andriy Khimyak, and the clergy of the Cathedral.
In his sermon, while contemplating the crucified Savior, His Beatitude Sviatoslav recalled a boy who, during the Passion services in church, pointed to the crucifixion and asked his mother: ‘Why?’
He believes that today we have a unique opportunity to ask the same question of our heavenly Mother: Mother of God, why?
In response, we hear the familiar words: “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones, exalted the humble; he has filled the hungry with good things, but sent the rich away empty” (“Song of Mary” Luke 1:52–53).
“These words acquire a completely different meaning beneath the cross. Today, Mary tells us that whith Christ’s death on the cross, a worldwide revolution unfolded — everything changed forever, gaining a different meaning, completely different perspectives,” the preacher explained.
“Today we see God dying on the cross. We see the immortal who became human, who took on the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary to suffer death,” he said, adding, “The blood of the first man killed, Abel, who cried out to God from the earth for vengeance, is transformed by the blood of the Savior into the blood that grants forgiveness.”
The Head of the UGCC stated that today we hear the words of the Holy Gospel, which tells us that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Jesus crucified on the cross calls out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:45).
“How can God call out to himself that he has abandoned himself? What sense does this phrase make?” the Patriarch paused.
“The Son of God becomes the voice of every lonely and abandoned person who cries out for salvation to his Creator. Christ, as if on the cross, echoes the cry of all humanity to God. He, the Son of God, appears to stand on the side of those who are rejected and condemned, for whom there is no chance of salvation and rescue. It is at the moment of Jesus Christ’s death that everything gains hope,” said the Father and Head of the UGCC.
“The one who was condemned and rejected is now saved. The one who was far from God becomes very close to God. The one who was condemned as a sinner, being crucified on the right hand, now hears from Christ: ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’ Today, everyone who is facing death receives the hope of resurrection and life,” he added.
“We are commemorating, experiencing, participating in the sacrament of the burial of Jesus Christ at a particularly significant moment for our nation, as Ukraine is undergoing its own crucifixion. Perhaps today, Ukraine is crying out with the voice of more than one seeker after God: God, where are You? In the midst of daily shelling, in the kingdom of death sown by the Russian aggressor, we cry out: ‘God, why have You abandoned me?’’
“Today we receive an answer to the meaning of our struggle, for we see that it is the one who is crucified who triumphs. In God, the dead are resurrected. Today, the humiliated receive glory, and the wounded are glorified in the Kingdom of God,” the Patriarch affirmed.
“I am going to the grave so that you may rise again! says our divine, despised, crucified Savior to us today, as He enters into His Resurrection glory. Therefore, today we say: we glorify You, our God; we glorify Your passion, crucifixion, and burial. Show us Your Resurrection on the third day,” added His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
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