Photo: Pinterest
There are circumstances that divide our lives into “before” and “after.” The sudden death of a close one, accidents leading to disability, a home destroyed by an explosion that reduces to rubble everything that was built over decades, and so on. In these moments you understand that we have nothing to rely on. We have no firm foundation under ourselves. Money, career, health, family, domestic coziness—all of this can create an illusion of comfort and safety, but no more. As life shows us, any prosperity can disappear in a matter of moments. And then you remember the words of the apostle Paul, which we heard today [last Sunday] in church. The only firm foundation that we can rely on is our Lord Jesus Christ. God, Who became Man, lived a sorrowful and difficult life. He was persecuted and slandered. He experienced thirst, beatings, and a torturous death. The Savior took upon Himself the experience of human suffering. He knows what it means to be in pain, to be tormented, and to die. Therefore, Christ is always near, and ready at any minute to stretch out His helping hand to us.
Today [last Sunday] the Church honors the “Hodigitria” icon of the Mother of God. The Mother of God gives us an example of unmurmuring carrying of our life’s cross and complete hope in God’s Providence. We recall that the Virgin Mary gave birth to her Son far from home, in a manger and poverty. She knew the meaning of forced emigration, danger, pain for her Child, and maternal torment. Human grief did not pass her by. But she did not become bitter or fall into despair. The Mother of God endured it all, and even now continues to endure human sins and unrighteousness, praying at God’s throne for our salvation. She is the ideal example of how we must build our lives on the rock, the name of which is Christ.
If our country would build civil life on this foundation, we would be living in paradise and not on earth. We would have a deep foundation that would unite all our people. If this foundation were the foundation of family, social, and interpersonal relations, then our Motherland would be unconquerable. But we see the soul-destroyers are doing everything possible to break us apart. As an instrument of division they are using language, religion, and political views. This is the wedge that they are hammering into our unity in order to destroy us. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Head of which is Christ, is the last thing that can unite our people into one whole. This is precisely why it is now being subjected to persecution from those who want our destruction. But they do not understand that beside us are our Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God—and that means that we are unconquerable!
