{"id":630,"date":"2014-03-07T14:49:25","date_gmt":"2014-03-07T19:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=630"},"modified":"2014-03-07T14:49:25","modified_gmt":"2014-03-07T19:49:25","slug":"great-lent-pastoral-of-the-ukrainian-catholic-hierarchy-of-the-u-s-a-to-our-clergy-hieromonks-and-brothers-religious-sisters-seminarians-and-beloved-faithful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=630","title":{"rendered":"GREAT LENT PASTORAL OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY OF THE U.S.A. TO OUR CLERGY, HIEROMONKS AND BROTHERS, RELIGIOUS SISTERS, SEMINARIANS AND BELOVED FAITHFUL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOpen to me the doors of repentance, O Giver of life. As we worship in your temple this morning, teach us how to purify the temples of our bodies, and in your compassion, purify me by the goodness of your mercies.\u201d<\/em>
\n– from the Matins for the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee<\/em><\/p>\n

In teaching the faithful about the cycle of feasts and commemorations contained in the liturgical year of the Byzantine church, the church Fathers often used the symbol of a door, as we see in the above citation from the service of matins. Indeed, as a pilgrim community journeying towards the heavenly Jerusalem, we can say that we have only just recently passed through the door symbolizing the culmination of the celebrations surrounding the birth and baptism of Our Lord. And having closed it behind us, we have travelled only a few steps along the journey, and have come upon another door along our path: the door that crosses the threshold into the time of Great Lent. Great Lent is a blessed time of cleansing, renewal and conversion that encompasses the totality of our being: physical, psychological and above all, spiritual \u2013 all in preparation for the great commemoration of the death, burial and Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
\nEvery year at this time we ask ourselves the question: How are we to effectively use this time of Lent so that we can be truly transformed, in mind, body and spirit? Thankfully, the Church in her wisdom has shown us the answer through the Gospel lessons contained in the Sundays immediately before the beginning of Great Lent. We find in them, concrete means of preparing for Lent so that we can embark upon these 40 holy days, sure of our victory in the end.
\nIn the Gospel of the Sunday of Zaccheus (Lk. 19:1-10) we learn that a personal and indomitable desire for conversion is necessary if we are to profit from the time of Great Lent. The Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee (Lk. 18:10-14) demonstrates that a humble recognition of our personal sinfulness is also a prerequisite. The Sunday of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15: 11-32) contains many lessons for us, one of them being that God will cover us with his boundless forgiveness and mercy if we take but one tiny step towards him in repentance. Meatfare Sunday (Mt. 25: 31-46) presents us with a terrifying picture of the Last Judgment and Christ\u2019s admonition that only through acts of corporal mercy towards our brothers and sisters in need, will we escape the sentence of eternal damnation. Finally, when we at last stand on the threshold of Great Lent, the Gospel of Cheesefare Sunday (Mt. 6: 14-21) teaches us that our sincere forgiveness of those who have offended us is the key that ensures God\u2019s mercy and forgiveness for our own transgressions.
\nDuring the time of Great Lent we urge you to return often to the Gospel lessons of these preparatory Sundays, to meditate upon them and plumb their depths for the golden nuggets of God\u2019s grace, wisdom and love that are found within them in abundance.
\nIf we do this, then we will discover that, at the end of our Lenten journey, yet another door will be opened for us: a door that leads to the celebration of the indescribable joy of Our Lord\u2019s glorious Resurrection from the dead; a door that leads to a faith in Christ that is stronger, deeper, more courageous and resilient, shining brightly for all to see. Indeed, gathered together in our parish churches on Easter Sunday we can become modern examples of those ancient communities where Saint Paul preached so long ago, communities for which \u2018God had opened the door of faith\u2019. (Acts 14:27)
\nOf course, the gift of faith is not something to be hoarded and hidden from sight. We are called to put it on display for all the world to see, to \u2018set it on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house\u2019. (Mt. 5:15) To paraphrase the words that were pronounced at our baptism we are to \u2018take the lighted candle and strive throughout our lifetime to shine brightly with the light of faith and of good deeds\u2026\u2019
\nWhen our entire being is filled with the joy of faith, then our natural desire should be to share this joy and this faith with others. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis has emphasized this noble privilege and responsibility of Christians in his brilliant Apostolic Exhortation \u2018Evangelii Gaudium\u2019 \u2013 \u2018The Joy of the Gospel\u2019 in which he writes that the Good News of our faith is \u2018a joy ever new, a joy which is shared\u2019. This is also reflected in the resolution of the Synod of Bishops of our Ukrainian Catholic Church last year, which, under the banner of the program of parish spiritual renewal entitled \u2018The Vibrant Parish \u2013 a Place to Encounter the Living Christ\u2019, has dedicated 2014 to the development of a Missionary Spirit in our Ukrainian Church.
\nThe very nature and mission of the Church means that we are called to bear witness to Christ and to share the Good News with others. May the journey through Great Lent upon which we are embarking, be a time of true spiritual conversion and renewal for all of us. And may all those who yearn to walk through the door that leads to an encounter with Christ and the Church, be guided through the light of our good example.<\/p>\n

+Stefan Soroka
\nMetropolitan-Archbishop of Philadelphia<\/p>\n

+Richard Seminack
\nEparch of St. Nicholas in Chicago<\/p>\n

+Paul Chomnycky, OSBM (author)
\nEparch of Stamford<\/p>\n

+John Bura
\nApostolic Administrator
\nof St. Josaphat in Parma<\/p>\n

Great Lent, 2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOpen to me the doors of repentance, O Giver of life. As we worship in your temple this morning, teach us how to purify the temples of our bodies, and in your compassion, purify me by the goodness of your … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-great-lent","category-pastoral-message-of-theugcc-hierarchy-of-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=630"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630\/revisions\/631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}