Your Grace, Reverend Fathers, Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ —
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support and kind words on the occasion of my ordination at the Ukrainian Orthodox Chapel of All Saints of Ukrainian Lands in Oakville on Sunday June 14. It has been two months now since my ordination and one thing I would like to stress and ask for in abundance is for everyone’s sincere prayers that God help me in everything as a priest. This is an awesome and huge task to bear and I need God’s guidance and help so as not to fall into traps that the deceiver will inevitably set in front of my path as to make me fall.
We all make mistakes even with the best of intentions due to our fallen sinful nature. I ask for everyone’s help, support and love when inevitably I will make mistakes as I will try to help, support and love everyone through their tribulations all the while trying to live in unity within the Church. As I look forward to helping and serving everyone in love and unity, I ask for your help by living a Christ-centred life. With so many distractions within our North American culture, we need to constantly re-focus our minds and hearts toward God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and not only on Sundays but every day of our life. I am no different than anyone else and I constantly struggle with this. I constantly catch myself being caught up with worldly things and temporarily forgetting about Christ. I truly and sincerely believe that it is possible, for one’s mind and heart to live constantly in remembrance of Jesus Christ — but it takes a lot of work and effort on our part if we are to succeed and live in God’s love and joy.
We need the help and support of one another and we need each other’s prayers in unity and love, which is the Church. And I your sinful servant in Christ will need everyone’s prayers as I endeavour to pray for everyone’s soul and for our Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. May we not lose our focus and love for our Lord, Jesus Christ with all of the worldly distractions vying for our time and vying for our thoughts and vying for our actions.
Let us endeavour to live in God’s love with modesty, piety, benevolence, kindliness, reasonableness, mildness, forbearance and holiness. Just as Jesus said,
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
Everything hinges on and flows out of, our Lord’s first and greatest commandment.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
Amen.
Your newly ordained servant in Christ,
Fr. Lubomyr
