The spirit that is attacking Ukraine today can only be expelled by prayer and fasting: The Head of the UGCC on the fourth Sunday of Lent
On the 4th Sunday of Lent, the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, reminded that the spirit that is attacking Ukraine today can be driven out not only by military power or other human means, but only by prayer and fasting. The Primate stated this in his sermon during the Liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Kyiv on April 14.
In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus comes down from the mountain after his transfiguration and sees his disciples surrounded by the lawyers and scribes and argues with them. But then this discussion turns into another argument — a father brings his demon-possessed son to Jesus and says: “Teacher, save me!”.
Christ describes all of these people-the scribes, the disciples, the father, and the son-with a single definition: “O faithless generation”. All of them have no understanding of who Christ is. But it is the father who becomes the spokesman for this unfaithful family when he asks Christ for help.
The Primate noted that the phrase of the father: “I do believe, help my unbelief” may be startling, because it seems that faith and unbelief coexist in one person. “What does it mean to believe? What does this faith do to a person? In today’s Gospel we have an answer to this. Faith makes a person one with Christ Himself,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
He emphasized that believing means first of all trusting God, His power, and holiness. Each of us must grow in trust in the Lord every day. And the effort that a person makes in trusting God is prayer and fasting.
“Perhaps nothing is as painful for a person as experiencing a moment of one’s own powerlessness during a war, when we see, as if in the face, the disgust of the evil spirit that brings destruction and death,” said the Patriarch.
The Head of the Church urged us to reflect on our level of trust in God during times of struggle, particularly the ongoing war which is seen as a confrontation with the evil spirit.
“Lord, come to us today! Bestow your spirit upon us! Lift us up and rescue us! Grant us Your power! Manifest Your power through our apparent powerlessness! And above all, grow us in faith, in complete trust in You! For nothing is impossible for the one who believes,” concluded His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
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