Meanwhile, Russia’s unconscionable invasion of Ukraine goes on. Russia has made small gains in the Donbas region at great cost while continuing attacks against Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure and consistently refusing any cease-fire proposals that won’t hand over to them all the territory in Eastern Ukraine that they seek. The Putin kleptocracy has no interest in genuine dialogue, much less any intention of admitting its war crimes. If the Russian regime’s savagery is rewarded, it will mean the fall of the current framework of international law, and ongoing danger for the rest of Ukraine and Europe. The aggressor is relentless. What can be done?
Ukrainians suffer and pray for peace even as they continue to defend themselves. Their nation is enduring a long and mysterious trial, with the hope that their humiliation will bear fruit through faith and love.Here are some excerpts (in bold type) from the homily given by His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Primate of the Ukrainian Greek (Byzantine) Catholic Church, on October 20 in Oslo at the “Ecumenical Prayer for Peace” with religious leaders of Ukraine and Norway:
To these Philippians, the Apostle Paul proclaims Christ, who “though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8). To those striving to ascend, Paul preaches the One who chose to descend….
The goal of this descent of the Son of God is death on the cross—the most shameful and humiliating of deaths, reserved as punishment for slaves and known as servile supplicium.
To the Philippians, Paul proclaims “Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23–24). The Apostle reveals a divine paradox: the crucifixion on the cross—the lowest point of humiliation in Christ’s descent—becomes the very moment of glorification and ascent. What appears to human eyes as shame becomes the hour when the Father glorifies His Son, bestowing on Him “the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil 2:9-11).
Dearly beloved in Christ! Today Ukraine—our people and our Churches—are walking the path of kenosis proclaimed to us in this Word of God. Every loss of a loved one, every destroyed city and village, leaves in our hearts an irreparable emptiness that nothing can fill. The whole world witnesses Ukraine’s tragedy: some with awe, others with indifference; still others raise their hands in helplessness and turn our pain and suffering into material for media battles and manipulations, using it to polarize their own societies and gain political advantage.
Today our nation endures its own crucifixion before the eyes of the world community, and it seems to us that the Apostle Paul speaks precisely about us when he says: “We have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals” (cf. 1 Cor 4:9). Yet the power and glory of the Lord’s Cross are revealed in our sufferings—and in our word of hope, both for Ukraine and from Ukraine, to contemporary humanity.
We are bleeding, and once again we ask ourselves: God, why? Perhaps this question—Why must we, Ukrainians, be crucified before the eyes of the whole world today? — stands at the very center of reflection for all people of goodwill, both believers and non-believers alike. God, why do other nations live, develop, rejoice, and flourish, while we must die night after night? Why does the blood of infants flow on Ukrainian soil? God, why?
Perhaps the final answer to this question will be revealed only at the Last Judgment, when all that is hidden will come to light. Yet even now, the key to understanding this tragedy lies in the holy and life-giving Cross of Christ.…
In us today, this divine paradox is being fulfilled once again: the crucifixion on the cross—the lowest point of humiliation in the descent—has become the moment of glorification and ascent.
Today, together with representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, we wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to all Christians of Norway and to all people of goodwill for their solidarity with Ukraine. Thank you for showing in your compassion toward us “the same mind that was in Christ Jesus” (cf. Phil 2:5)... [O]ur shared mission of Christian mercy [is] to end the war and to save Europe from yet another catastrophe.
May our suffering, and our common witness to the Gospel of Christ, serve the purpose that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Amen.
