Kiev, April 6, 2026
Photo: Ukrainian Orthodox Church—YouTube
Delivering his Palm Sunday homily this weekend, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine called on the faithful to practice humility in all their good deeds and to keep their minds fixed on eternity rather than earthly things.
The Ukrainian primate celebrated the feast in the Church of St. Agapit, outside the walls of the Kiev Caves Lavra.
Reflecting on the triumphal entry of the Savior into Jerusalem, Met. Onuphry drew the attention of the faithful to the manner in which the Lord appeared before the people. The conqueror of death, Who had just raised Lazarus from the dead, entered the city not on a magnificent chariot but on a humble donkey. Other conquerors—kings and commanders—had ridden into their cities on chariots drawn by white horses, with pomp and honor, having defeated armies and kingdoms. The Savior, having conquered death itself, entered on a donkey.
“If we do something good in our life, we mustn’t mount the chariot of pride,” the Metropolitan said. “We must sit upon the humble donkey of the Gospel and remember: a good deed is accomplished not by our own strength or riches, but by the power of God. A man is only an instrument through which the Lord does good.”
Met. Onuphry also dwelt on the words Christ spoke in response to the Pharisees’ demand that He silence His disciples’ acclamations. The Lord answered that if they fell silent, the very stones would cry out (Lk. 19:40). The Metropolitan cited examples from Scripture in which inanimate nature bore witness to the majesty of God: Mt. Sinai trembled and the rocks split when the Law was given to Moses, and the earth shook at the Crucifixion on Golgotha, bearing witness to the great sacrifice for the human race.
Met. Onuphry noted that today, when humanity has become too absorbed in earthly vanity, the natural world and the depletion of earth’s resources likewise remind us of God: “Everything earthly has an end. Think about the eternal.”
Concluding his homily, the Ukrainian primate emphasized that while a Christian must attend to earthly affairs, he must do so in measure, for “earthly life, however beautiful it may be, comes to an end sooner or later, and a man passes into the spiritual, Heavenly life, which will continue forever.”
He closed with a prayer that the Lord, Who came to destroy sin and restore the lost Paradise, would help each man to prepare his soul for blessed eternity in Christ.
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