On January 5, a Divine Liturgy was held in Kyiv’s St. Andrew’s Church of the Stauropegium of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Ukraine. The service was led by the Exarch of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Ukraine, Bishop Michael of Koman, with the concelebration of priest Volodymyr Yatsulchak and deacon Andriy Kovalev.
During the service, requiem prayers were offered for the fallen soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine and civilians slain by the invaders. Separate prayers were also offered for the Ukrainian Army and a just peace in Ukraine.
During his sermon, the hierarch of the Ecumenical Patriarchate emphasized the importance of understanding God’s providence in every person’s life. “God’s providence concerns not only all of humanity in terms of salvation, in order to give each individual the opportunity to draw closer to God. God’s providence concerns each of us.”
“Today’s Gospel is about God’s providence, about the inevitability and immutability of divine promises,” said Bishop Michael. He explained that the genealogy of Christ shows the inclusion of all people in God’s providence of salvation: “This does not mean that all those people who are listed were saints. Not at all. There were sinful people, there were even pagans in that genealogy. Through this, the Lord shows that God’s providence covers absolutely everyone without exception.”
The Bishop of Koman warned against haste in life and impatience with God’s will. “As is very often the case with us, if we have conceived something, we want to fulfill our plan as soon as possible. And if it doesn’t work out, then we’ll even get angry with God,” he noted. At the end of his sermon, Bishop Michael recalled the main purpose of Christ’s coming: “Christ was born to sacrifice himself for all of us. And the celebration of the Nativity of Christ reminds us how much we should appreciate this mercy of God, how much we are called to embody it in our lives.”
