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

It is my thought that those who are reading this Bulletin have, at some level, embraced the Eastern Catholic way of thinking which, I firmly believe, is very different from the Western Catholic way of thinking. Why? Because our worship and the theology which flows from our way of worship is different! While both are equally true, they are not the same. It is critical, I believe, that we embrace the Eastern Catholic way of thinking because it flows from the way that we worship God. If you have experienced the Roman Catholic way of worship, think about the differences! Our worship is, I truly believe, much more experiential since it responds to all of our human senses. Our ritual is much more sensual, in the good sense of the word! Just recall how we celebrate the Great and Holy Week and, of course, Easter.

One of the aspects of our Easter worship that always impresses me is that we clearly see the connection to our Judaic roots. Our Church clearly states that Jesus is the new Moses who frees us from the captivity of our human limitations. Easter is the new Exodus – Christ leads us to a new freedom and the Promised Land. Christians have a New Jerusalem and are told that all humans have been chosen by God to be a part of His Kingdom. Our Church never tells us that God excludes others, even those who may not believe that Jesus is God incarnate. It clearly tells us that God calls all humans to His Kingdom.

Our Church abounds in images and rituals which attempt to have us experience what we believe. Again, think about how we have tried to worship God during this special time of the year. We tried to make it truly real with our Great and Good Friday burial of Christ. We tried to make it real by our glorious celebration of Easter.

One of the real testimonies of this fact is the way we celebrate Easter Matins. It is called the Rush Service. We try to put a lot of energy into the service by making sure that we sing more rapidly and, when the incensation is done, that it is done rapidly and with energy.

Again all of this creates a milieu that tells us, or should tell us, that we are experiencing these things in the present moment. We do not profess that the life of Christ is just a past memory. Since there is no time in God, all the things that Jesus did are things that He is also currently doing.

I know that this is difficult for some to intellectually grasp. Our Church sees and celebrates salvation history as taking place right now!

Hopefully all who read this will come to realize that salvation is a present experience!