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Dear Parish Faithful,
CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!
A Ukrainian Pascha
I just saw many photos of committed Ukrainian Orthodox Christians attending the paschal services this last weekend. Some were standing in churches supported by walls riddled with bullet holes. One church had actually lost a wall from a missile strike. Attending the Paschal Liturgy with the uneasy fear hovering in the atmosphere of a possible missile strike made clear to me the courage and faith of these, our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in Christ. This faithfulness is worthy of our respect and admiration. I hope that President Zelensky word's quoted below - "But there will be a Resurrection" - comes true for Ukraine in a not-so-distant future. We were able to celebrate the Feast of Feasts on a wonderful weekend, with splendid weather allowing us to make our outdoor processions in the lovely atmosphere of a clear and peaceful evening. But we are painfully aware that the atmosphere was quite different in anther part of the world.
Apparently, the Russian Orthodox patriarch, Kirill of Moscow, has something very important to learn about Christianity from the Jewish president of Ukraine:
In his nightly address Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruminated on the significance of the date. "Today was Holy Saturday for Christians of the Eastern Rite. The day between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. It seems that Russia is stuck on such a day," he said.
"On the day when death triumphs and God is supposedly gone. But there will be a Resurrection. Life will defeat death. The truth will defeat any lies. And evil will be punished," added Zelensky.
Was there any indication on Holy Friday, Holy Saturday and Pascha Sunday, that Putin and the Russia Federation refused to pursue its fratricidal war effort in Ukraine in honor of these, the most "holy days" of the Orthodox year? Not that I was aware of. Did Patriarch Kirill listen carefully to the words of the "Let God Arise" paschal hymn: "Let us call "Brothers" even those that hate us, and forgive all by the Resurrection?" Who would have thought of such a precipitous moral decline by the Moscow patriarchate. However, we now realize that this indefensible support of the war against Ukraine has been years in the making. Patriarch Kirill now remains justifiably alienated from a large segment of the Orthodox world. And I am most grateful to God for that!
Lena Zezulin, an attorney "experienced in legal reform and rule of lay programming in post-conflict and transitional economies" - and now a former member of ROCOR (The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia) - has publicly written that what Patriarch Kirill has done in "unforgivable."
Of course, that is ultimately up to God. But I understand what she is saying. A bishop's role is to be a shepherd to his flock - and this is the chief hierarch of millions of Ukrainian Orthodox Christians - imaging the Chief Shepherd, Christ. As such he has the moral obligation to defend and support his flock from any and all kinds of danger. To therefore bless the means by which his own flock is being destroyed is hard to comprehend. This is a sin of profound implications. Forgiveness will be hard to come by. Ukraine is passing through its national Golgotha with an indomitable spirit that is inspiring to so many of us. Let us hope for that Resurrection that its courageous president is confident in.
