Video-message of the Head of the UGCC on the 148th Week of Full-Scale War, December 15, 2024
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!
We are approaching the end of the 149th week of the brutal war that the Russian aggressor brought to peaceful Ukrainian land.
It was another week full of tragedies in different parts of Ukraine. This Friday, our golden-domed Kyiv came under a massive missile attack. At least one person was killed and about ten were wounded. The embassies of four countries—Portugal, Argentina, North Macedonia, and Montenegro—were damaged. The famous St. Nicholas Church in the center of Kyiv was also affected.
We commiserate with all those who suffered and wrap up the families of the victims with our love and care.
This week our Kherson also suffered massive artillery fire. Kryvyi Rih and Kharkiv also underwent extensive damage. The town of Zolochiv in the Kharkiv region came under intense shelling and air strikes, where our community, our parish, was very seriously damaged.
We thank the Lord God and the Armed Forces of Ukraine that we are alive on this Sunday evening. Here, we can say to ourselves, to each other, and to the world—Ukraine stands, Ukraine fights, Ukraine prays!
We are now entering the mystery of the Nativity of Christ. In just a few days, Ukraine, along with the rest of the world, will celebrate one of the greatest Christian holidays—the feast of the birth of God’s Son in a human body, the Nativity of Christ.
This year, Christmas in Ukraine will be celebrated for the third time amidst this brutal war. This Christmas will be marked by darkness and cold, as the enemy continues its efforts to deprive Ukrainians of light and warmth. However, God is with us—His power, His light, and the warmth of His love remain with us.
Therefore, this year, Ukrainians will congratulate each other on this holiday, wishing heavenly joy and peace that come not from people, but from God. Today, we remind ourselves again: when darkness thickens around us, the light we carry within us shines the brightest.
That is why today, we light the Christmas candle of faith, hope, and love. We comfort each other with the warmth of this love, Christian solidarity, and the Christmas customs our people have cherished throughout history. The ancestral Christmas carols can be heard. We invite others to the festive table, sharing kutia and all our abundance with those in need of our attention and support.
On Christmas Eve, December 24, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, will inaugurate the Jubilee Year 2025 by opening the Jubilee Doors in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He has declared this year to be a “year of hope.” And as we celebrate Christmas, we enter the new year as pilgrims of this hope.
Christian hope is not a mere sentiment, nor is it reliance on something uncertain or illusory. No, Christian hope is a virtue, for in Christ, we already have the fulfillment of what we hope for. The content of Christian hope is our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Apostle Paul teaches us. Our hope is in Him.
“Hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5), the Apostle Paul reminds us. Our Church, both in Ukraine and the diaspora, together with the entire Universal Church, is entering this year of hope. Next Sunday, we will open the Jubilee Doors in our cathedral churches. We will journey throughout the year as pilgrims, bearers of this hope, moving toward its fulfillment in the modern history of our nation.
In Ukraine, hope takes on heroic forms today. When we see our soldiers overcoming fatigue and rising once again to defend Ukraine, hope in Ukraine takes on the face of a warrior.
Every time our rescuers and power engineers restore power, reconnect our towns and villages to the electricity grid, knowing that tomorrow a missile could destroy their work, yet they restore light to our homes every day, hope in Ukraine takes on the face of a power engineer and a rescuer.
Today, hope in Ukraine takes on the face of Ukrainian youth, who attend the funerals of their peers more often than weddings. Yet these young people are capable of love, create new families, give birth to children, and defend their homeland. Indeed, hope in Ukraine has a youthful face.
Therefore, during this Jubilee year, we strive to make hope fruitful in our lives. The most cherished prayer of the pilgrims of hope in Ukraine is a prayer for a just peace, for the end of this brutal war, and for the entire world to condemn the aggressor and halt its murderous actions.
We enter the new year hoping to receive the heavenly peace of Christ, which the newborn Savior brings with Him from heaven. It is the angels who sing today: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.”
I extend my greetings to all of you on the upcoming Christmas holidays! I wish you all to be bearers of Christ’s Christian hope, to radiate His light, and to warm each other with the power of His heavenly love!
God, bless Ukraine with Your hope, Your love! Bless our homeland and our long-suffering people with Your just, heavenly peace!
The blessing of the Lord be upon you, through His grace and love for mankind, always, now and forever, and for the ages of ages. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Christ Has Born! Glorify Him!
