Kiev, April 22, 2022
Photo: news.church.ua
We must be careful to partake of Holy Communion as did the faithful Apostles, and not as the traitor Judas, the head of the UOC exhorted his flock yesterday.
“In order to receive Communion as the Apostles, and not as Judas, you have to be honest, sincere before God and seek not your own will, but to do the Divine,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine said in his homily yesterday at the Holy Thursday Liturgy, reports the Ukrainian Church.
“The human will is sometimes very attractive, promising, but it always leads to destruction, and the Divine will can be bitter, heavy, unpleasant, but it always leads to Life,” the Metropolitan stressed.
Therefore, we must strive “to worthily receive the Divine Mysteries, to be honest before God and try to build our lives according to the sacred laws of our Holy God.”
Met. Onuphry also spoke about the difference between humility and weakness, noting that the Lord Himself gave us an example of humility when He washed the feet of His Disciples.
“You should always put others above yourself, and put yourself below. This is the essence of humility,” His Beatitude emphasized.
But, “Humility is not weakness,” as it is often perceived to be. “It’s not when someone just goes along with the flow, with whatever circumstances, and lives that way—that’s weakness. But humility is life according to Divine laws.”
God is strong, and thus those who live according to His laws are also strong, the Metropolitan said.
“A humble man receives Divine grace, which makes him strong and invincible against any evil,” His Beatitude concluded.
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