“The Lord God nourishes His people even in the midst of the desert of war”: His Beatitude Sviatoslav
Amidst the desolate circumstances of war, we realized that when we, Christians, the Church, in our ministering to man’s social needs, give only something, it means that we give nothing. We have to share Someone — the One who is the source of our life and hope. Even in the face of the Russian invasion, golden-domed Kyiv needed Christ above everything else — the foundation of our stability, survival, and hope. This was stated by the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, during a sermon at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the 8th Sunday after the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
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Reflecting on today’s word of God about Christ feeding his people with five loaves and two fish (Matthew 14:14–22), His Beatitude Sviatoslav encouraged us to look closely at two details of this story: the place and time where this miracle takes place and the gesture by which Christ multiplies the loaves and fish and feeds his people.
The place where Christ leads his followers is the desert. “In the history of the salvation of God’s people, the desert was a place, a space of special communication between man and God,” the preacher emphasized. He noted that in the books of the prophets, the desert is also described as a space in which a person can rediscover the lost God, renew his connection with Him, and rediscover the source of his life.
“Hence today’s Gospel begins with a word about love and mercy. The Lord saw his people in the desert and had mercy on his people, healing every disease among them. No wonder Jesus Christ went to the desert before the beginning of public teaching and preaching to defeat the devil,” said the Head of the UGCC.
He then drew attention to the gesture of Christ, which is important to see, realize, and experience today.
As the preacher explained, the small resources in God’s hands, which a person gives back to Him, tend to multiply. Christ gives to the disciples. The disciples give it back to people. Thus, everyone gathered 12 baskets of the remnants of this multiplied feast of bread and fish in the desert.
“Interestingly, whenever we return our means of subsisting back to God’s hands, that is, return them to their Source, allow Christ Himself to break them and share them with those in need, those resources miraculously multiply. The Lord God nourishes his people even today, even amid the desert of war!” he emphasized.
Recalling the last year’s meeting with Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, His Beatitude Sviatoslav said that then the mayor stated that more than bread and clothing, people in Kyiv needed a word of hope from the Church when the city was turning into a desert and parishes into a space for social service in the first days of the siege of Kyiv.
“For more than a year of war in Ukraine, no one has died of hunger, thirst, or cold on the land free from the enemy, although millions of people have needed and still need basic means of life and existence. A great war always causes devastation and a great humanitarian crisis. Still, thanks to the universal Christian solidarity and service to the needy in the name of Christ and His mercy, this crisis did not slide into a humanitarian catastrophe, which the enemy was so determined to provoke,” the Head of the UGCC emphasized.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav concluded by emphasizing the importance of serving people not in one’s own name but in the name of God.
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