St. Sophia’s Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Kiev, Ukraine

Perhaps one of the most important things to remember about our Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church is that we are a Church of Christ and that as Christians we are meant to engage in those things that are of Christ. This means that we must be about witnessing to the Gospel of Jesus and integrating into the life of our community those actions which bear witness to our belief in Jesus. We are not just an ethnic social club. We are a Church. This is one of the main reasons why our Patriarch Sviatoslav and our Synod of Bishops have called our parishes to engage in those acts which are characteristic of Christian churches. One of the key activities is Christian Outreach. We hear that in the early Church one of the activities that they engaged in was helping and feeding the less fortunate. It is very easy to become self-centered and think only about your own community and yourselves. That is why the early Christians felt and believed that Jesus, who constantly demonstrated an awareness of others in need, modeled for them how to live. That is why our Church, now a world-wide church and out of the underground, is doing all in her power to integrate more outreach activities into her life. Our Church, precisely because it is a part of the Church of Christ, is called to bear witness to Him as God’s revelation of Himself to humankind. This means that we must think always not just about ourselves but, rather, about the People of God.

I don’t know how many are truly aware of the struggle our Church went through for more than 70 years in   the underground. It   survived because it believed that it was following the will of God made known by Jesus, the Christ. Many were martyrs for their belief in God and Jesus. These martyrs only made our Church stronger in the faith and a true Church of Christ.

The witness of the martyrs of our Church should be an encouragement for us. Much like the martyrs of the early Church were encouragement to people during their time, so are the martyrs of our Church an encouragement to us to be steadfast in our faith and do all in our power to truly be a Church of Christ. The martyrs of our Church are modern-day people who gave their lives for their faith. We should do all in our power to imitate them by living a Christian life.