The Missionary Decade. Day Six — “Personal responsibility”
May 15, 2024
We encourage everyone to respond to His Beatitude Sviatoslav’s invitation to properly prepare for the feast of Pentecost. In the following days, we will read the texts of the Gospel from John and, together with the whole parish community, we will listen to the wise tips that the Lord offers us in times of war.
Wednesday, May 15
A reading of the Holy Gospel according to John 16:15–23
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”
Reflections on the sixth day of the Decade. Jesus Christ knew that His death on the cross would cause great pain and sorrow to His frightened disciples. He was preparing them for this: “A little while, and you will see me no more, and again a little while, and you will see me: for I am going to the Father” (Jn. 16, 16). After the Ascension, the Church is in a similar situation. She again eagerly awaits the return of Christ, but this time she can wait confidently and in full joy, because her sons and daughters, having received the Holy Spirit and being “Christ’s”, have direct access to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus. This direct access to the Father imposes certain obligations on us and should evoke in us a sense of personal responsibility for the spread of Christ’s Gospel — both where we live and throughout the world. To be Christ’s disciples means to be “like Christ”, as the apostle Paul aptly noted: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2, 20). Therefore, we must creatively give all our God-given gifts, whether natural or supernatural, for the spread of God’s Kingdom. Having personal responsibility means not being afraid to take some initiative yourself and boldly ask God the Father for strength, wisdom and everything we need to work for God’s glory and for the development of the Church.
Reflections in time of war. A great tragedy in war is the death of people, civilians and soldiers. Members of their families, women, parents, children, relatives and close friends bear this loss especially painfully. In this war, the enemy chose cruel and immoral tactics to target not only the military, but also primarily the civilian population in order to frighten and demoralize Ukrainians. It is not every day that the enemy attacks civilian infrastructure facilities to deprive us of light, heat and means of livelihood. Children suffer the most. More than 1,790 children were injured in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s full-scale armed aggression. According to official information, 535 children died and more than 1,255 were injured of various degrees of severity. At least several thousand Ukrainian children, especially orphans, were forcibly taken to the occupied territories or to the Russian Federation. And these children are not innocent in anything. They saw what they were not supposed to see: death, violence, destruction and death. They went through something they shouldn’t have gone through.
God does not want the death of any one. The God of peace wants to give children and us peace and strength of endurance. Only He is able to free us from the fear that paralyzes our ability to seek at least some explanation of what is happening, and at least do something to stop this unjust war. The merciful Lord wraps his loving arms around every person and child and heals their hearts with his parental love. God becomes the spiritual guardian of parents who have lost their children. He promises them that during the general resurrection, all families will be reunited and meet in God’s Kingdom. Today, the Lord also inspires people of good will to adopt orphans. Each of us can become a prayer guardian for all children, and each young family can take responsibility and adopt or adopt one child who lost their parents during the war.
Prayer intention: Let us pray for volunteers, medics and military chaplains.
Prayer. “In the morning, we were filled with Your mercy, and we rejoiced and were glad in all our days. Let us be glad in return for the days when You humbled us, the years when we saw evils. Look upon Your servants and upon Your work and guide their children. May the radiance of the Lord our God be upon us, and direct the work of our hands for us; direct the work of our hands” (Psalm 90 (89):14–17).
Mission task: Find some photos from your childhood (photo album, photo gallery on your computer, etc.) and remember those moments when you were filled with happiness. And today you have the opportunity to be happy, despite the difficult life circumstances that surround you.