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"Were not our hearts burning inside

It is true. Our Lord is risen"

(Lk. 24: 32 and 34)

During the past 40 days of the Great Fast, our Church called us to more in-

tense prayer, penance and charity. This was not a forced imposition making

us sad or irritable. Rather, it was an invitation to transformation. It was a

challenge to change, to improve ourselves in order that we may be truly worthy to

meet and enjoy the glorious Feast of our Lord's Holy Resurrection.

Just prior to that first glorious Easter Morning, there were betrayals, loneliness,

suffering, passion and death. Faith was displaced by fear and sadness in the disci-

ples and friends of Christ.Their hope was buried in the tomb. The last act of love

was the weeping women carrying the ointment.

A favorite Resurrection Gospel passage is the event of Emmaus.Two disheartened

disciples, Cleopas and Luke, talk sadly along the way about Jesus' passion and

death. Unknown to them, our Lord joins them on the road and explains all those

things that had to happen. Later at the meal, after "breaking bread", the two disci-

ples recognized the Risen Jesus, and as the Gospel tells us, "They said to one anoth-

er, 'Were not our hearts burning inside us as He talked to us on the road andexplained the Scriptures to us?'" They rush back to meet the other disci-

ples and are greeted with the joyous news, "It is true. The Lord is

risen." (Lk. 24: 32 and 34)

During the whole period of Great Fast preparation, our

Church led us gradually to these astonishing Gospel passages

announcing the Resurrection of our Lord, God and Savior

Jesus Christ.And every time we hear this "good news" our

hearts should burn inside us as we marvel at all these

things that were done for our salvation. We cannot be

silent, we cannot just whisper it, we have to shout it

out, not just you and I, but everyone, the whole

Church; Christ is risen; truly He is risen!"

The Resurrection of Christ is the greatest proof

of God's love for us. With the disciples, we too

realize that there is no Resurrection without the

cross. Jesus had to suffer to bring us life.Christ's victory over death is our victory also

because we have been baptized into His

death and shall rise with Him in glory.

We live according to Christ's Gospel

anticipating His blessings and eternal

life.

Faith in the Resurrection leads to life.

Our faith in Easter goes beyond the

tomb. Yes, we kiss the burial shroud

with tears in our eyes. These tears are

transformed into gladness because our

faith is in the Risen Christ. Our Lord

lives.

We do not just read about the

Resurrection once a year, celebrate

Easter as a historical event, but we rush

Easter Pastoral of the Ukrainian Catholic

Hierarchy of the United States of America

To Our Clergy, Hieromonks and Brothers,

Religious Sisters, Seminarians and Faithful:

. 6 continued on page 11

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

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8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

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11NEW STARApril, 2010

In case you ever need to greet some-

one on Pascha in Hawai'ian--there it

is above.

There's a web site available that pres-

ents two hundred-fifty ways to say

"Christ Is Risen! Indeed He Is Risen!"

In languages from Abenaki to Zulu you

can find a transliteration in the Latin

alphabet for them all. Included are Es-

peranto and Klingon as well as other

tongues from every continent on Earth.

Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Cree, Chock-

taw and other Native Amrican languages

are there--as well as Kazakh, Turkish,

Hebrew and Yiddish.

There is a wide variety of Slavic

dialects. Arabic variations and Chinese

are there, too--you get the idea.

Most have a link to be able to also lis-

ten to the greeting; first in regular con-

versational tone, then pronounced syl-

labyle-by-syllable, and finally as the bold

proclamation which tells the message of

faith with emphasis.

From India there's Malalayam. There

are other Asian offerings--Bali, Pilipino,

Indonesian.

Africa contributes Ge'ez, Urdu and

Swahili. Continental Europe gives

Anglo-Saxon and Breton. Perhaps you

prefer Haitian Creole or something else.

Check them out, and many others, at:

http://srbigham.com/en/index.html. Click

link in alphabetical order.

Here is Bishop Richards homily deliveredMarch 7, 2010, on the occasion of the fortieth

anniversary of ordination of Fr Ivan Krotec:

Forty years is a long time to be a priest. You can

imagine the thousands of experiences

and events that Father Ivan has placed in

the goodness of his heart and soul. I can

tell you this from my own experience

that on the day I was ordained a priest I

said to myself I was going to convert the

world. And after a few years I began to

say to myself, well maybe I won't be

able to convert the whole world, I will

convert the eparchy. After a few more

years when I became a pastor of a

parish, I said that I will now convert my

parish. Now after all these years in the

priesthood, I finally have begun to say

that now I hope I will be able to save my

own soul.

And surely in the life of Father Ivan

there have been those wonderful

moments when he said to himself, "I can

conquer the world." After forty years I

can be assured that he now says to him-

self, "but for the grace of God I would

not be here today." Like so many people looking at the

priesthood from the outside, it is not too long before a

priest realizes that it is the grace of God working

through him that makes him what he is. A priest

depends on the energy given him by God to do the

work of God. A priest sees the energy of God in the

center of His flock with which he has been entrusted. A

priest gets his power from the People of God because

this is where the presence of Christ is found.

The meaning of the priesthood is all found in the

presence of Christ. Saint Paul says to his close friend

Timothy, "If we died with Christ, we will live with

Him. If we don't give up, we will rule with Him."

Christ is the center of the life of a priest. The attraction

to the priesthood is not an attrac-

tion to the wise philosophies of the

world; it is not an attraction to

position and places of honor; it is

not an attachment to incense and

bells. It is an attachment to a per-

son--the Person of Christ in a very

real and intimate way. A priest

must be willing to give up every-

thing and follow in the footsteps of

the Master. If he does, he will suf-

fer for the sake of Christ. He will

find a real joy and peace of heart inknowing that he is living in the

heart of God.

Saint Paul tells Timothy, "Use

the power that comes from God

and join with me in suffering for

telling the good news." A priest

uses his power when he prays;

when he is united with the Father

in prayer. He is able to overcome

his fear and anxieties when he unites himself with the

Heavenly Father just as Jesus had done on many occa-

sions in his life. Jesus spent hundreds of hours alone in

the desert, in the solitude of the night, in discerning

what was the will of the Father. So a priest finds his

power in serving the Divine Liturgy for he knows that

the nourishment he will gain will come through the

nourishment with which he will feed his people.

Father Ivan over the forty years as a priest has heard

many confessions, has celebrated thousands of times the

Divine Liturgy, has married and baptized thousands of peo-

ple in the name of the Person in whose footsteps he follows.

It is an awesome task for any human being to undertake,

and we praise God for giving Father Ivan the presence of

mind for choosing to serve Christ as a priest of God.

I was sitting at a table with a pastor of a parish at a

dinner in his rectory. It was a chance for all us to get

together and enjoy a meal in the company of brother

priests. There is no other fraternity in the world like the

fraternity of the priesthood. We were laughing and hav-

ing fun while enjoying dinner when the telephone rang.

The pastor was called away from us right in the middle

of this festive gathering. Someone was dying in the

hospital. He had to go. He told us to stay and enjoy the

rest of the dinner and when he was leaving the dining

room I will never forget his words when leaving for the

hospital. He said: What I am doing now, leaving the

dinner, I would not do for anyone in the world. I do itfor Christ." This is the only Person in the world for

whom he would give himself up.

Remembering the words of Saint Paul, today we hail

the People of God because this is for whom Father Ivan

has served and will serve. Knowing well the words of

Saint Paul to Timothy we are reminded, "God saved us

and chose us to be His holy people. We did nothing to

deserve this, but God planned it because He is so kind.

Even before time began God planned for Christ Jesus

to show kindness to us." In turn Father Ivan shows us

the kindness of Christ by his dedication of forty years

as a teacher, leader and spiritual director of his people

--all because he wanted to show us the kindness of God

through Christ.

May God grant His servant the Priest, Ivan, Many

Years!

40th Anniversaryof Fr. Ivan Krotec

Ua ala hou 'o Kristo! Ua ala 'i 'o no 'oia!

Rt Rev Mitered

Archpriest Ivan Krotec

to the empty tomb and witness the love that conquered

death. This faith has meaning for us today and every day

of our lives. Christ's Resurrection is reflected in our lives

when we choose life over death; when we prefer light to

darkness; when we choose a life of grace rather than a life

of sin; and when we put love where there is hatred andindifference.

We cannot help but witness this faith to everyone,

together, in Church, at our Easter meals, "It is true, Christ

is risen!" With the two Emmaus disciples, Mary Mag-

dalene and the myrrh-bearing women, Peter and John,

the rest of the Apostles, and eventually Thomas, We pro-

claim: "Are not our hearts burning inside us It is true!

Our Lord is risen!" (Lk. 24: 32 and 34).

The mystery of the Resurrection of our Lord is the

most important feast in our Church's calendar. It is the

Feast of Feasts, the Holy Day of the Holy Days. And we

are blessed this year to celebrate Easter together, all our

Ukrainian Catholic churches, with our Ukrainian

Orthodox Brothers and Sisters, and all Christians. May

our faith in the Resurrection ring out a resounding "Christ

is Risen" this year everywhere.

On this joyous, solemn and glorious Feast of Easter, wethe episcopal shepherds of the Ukrainian Catholic

Metropolitan Province of the USA, pray for abundant

grace, good health and success in your daily struggles for

the good of our families, people and Christ's Church. Let

us all be grateful for all of Almighty God's great love for

us and His generous gifts.

May our Lord's victory--His conquest over sin and

death, and His promise of peace and eternal life be yours

always!

Christ is Risen!

Truly He Is Risen!

+Stefan Soroka

Metropolitan-Archbishop of Philadelphia

+Richard SeminackEparch of St. Nicholas in Chicago

+Paul Chomnycky, OSBM

Eparch of Stamford

+John Bura

Apostolic Administrator

of St. Josaphat in Parma

Easter, 2010

from page 1

file photo

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

12/20

EPARCHIAL CONFERENCE IN DETROIT: Inform-

ation on the openning of the Eparchial observance ofFifty Years as a Church is on the Internet. The planned

Eparchial Convention, announced in the past two

issues ofNew Star, has full details that may be found

by checking at: christamongus.org

YOUTUBE VIDEO CLIPS ABOUT UGCC WATCH-

ED OVER 20,000 TIMES: The Ukrainian GreekCatholic Church increasingly uses modern technologies

to communicate with faithful and with the people of good

will. On February 4, 2009, on the blessing of His Beati-

tude Lubomyr,

the UGCC be-

came accessible

on the popular

video service

YouTube.During the year

on a separate

channel of the

I n f o r m a t i o n

D e p a r t m e n t

(www.youtube.com/user/pressugcc) were placed forty-

six video clips which were watched over twenty thou-

sand times. The most popular were four video clips of the

first audio book of His Beatitude: The Road to Oneself.

Overall, they were watched over five thousand times.

"YouTube offers a unique possibility for a wide circle

of Internet users to present news about church life, its his-

tory, and modern activity in video format. Therefore, we

try to use these possibilities as much as possible so that

more people may learn about the Ukrainian Greek

Catholic Church, hear about its ministry," said Fr. Ihor

Yatsiv, head of Information Department of the UGCC.

CENSUS 2010 UNDERWAY IN USA: The ten-yearcensus of the United States is being conducted now.

Writing in "Ukrainian" in response

to question #9, "race" impacts gov-

ernment funds allocated for various

services and will positively help in

dedicating assistance for the

Ukrainian-American community. Information is confi-

dential. Certain matters of historic and geneological

interest will be released to the public--in 72 years:

(2082). It is required by law to comply with this process.

BISHOP ELEVATED: Bishop

MILAN (Sasik C.M.), until nowapostolic administrator "ad nutum

Sanctae Sedis" of the Eparchy of

Mukachevo of the Byzantine rite,

Ukraine, has been designated as

eparchial bishop of the same eccle-

siastical jurisdiction (area 12,800,

population 1,272,000, Catholics

371,000, priests 232, religious

205).

CATHEDRAL SCHOOL SENDS POSTCARDS TO

NEIGHBORS: To bolster enrollment, St NicholasCathedral School has mailed postcards to families in the

vicinity of the school. [Saying "wish you were here"?]

12 NEW STAR April, 2010

When visiting Italy a few years ago, we toured

the birthplace of St. Francis of Assisi. We

stopped at the Basilica of Saint Clare in

Assisi. There you can venerate a copy of the Byz-

antine-style cross of San Damiano, the cross at which

St. Francis knelt in prayer when Christ appeared to him

in a vision in 1205. On this cross, we see Christ cruci-

fied. We know He has suffered, yet He looks strong

and tall. On the top of the cross, we see Him fully

clothed and carrying the cross in triumph. He is

climbing out of the tomb and angels are crowding

around Him. Five of them have their hands extended in

welcome and Jesus seems to wave back. And Jesus has

His eyes open! The San Damiano crosses I had seen

prior to this visit to Assisi must have been later ver-

sions of this cross, as they had always shown Jesuswith His eyes closed, acknowledging that He was truly

dead. To me, the original San Damiano Cross merges

Eastern and Western spiritual expression.

Historical research indicates that for the first 1,000

years of Christianity, a regal Christ was most often por-

trayed, not a dead Jesus. As one source put it: "Jesus'

dead body was just not there. We could not find it in the

catacombs or Rome's early churches, in Istanbul's six-

th-century Great Church Hagia Sophia; in the monastery

churches in northeastern Turkey; or in Ravenna's

mosaics. And as we realized that the Crucifixion was

absent, we began to pay attention to what was present in

early Christian art" (This Present Paradise, Rita

Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker).

The catacombs of the ancient world contained funer-

ary statues and tombs and were decorated with frescoesand paintings, frequently depicting Jesus as the Good

Shepherd, carrying His sheep. The Eucharist, Baptism,

and Jesus performing miracles, especially the raising of

Lazarus from the dead, were also portrayed. Doves,

peacocks, fish and grapevines decorated the walls of

the catacombs (and some graffiti did, too). If Jesus'

passion was portrayed, His resurrection and victory

over death balanced that portrayal, not His suffering

and death on the cross.

Ancient churches (and Byzantine churches today)

were three-tiered: the heavens appeared above, a mid-

dle realm depicted Christ and His saints, and on the

floor of the church, the people stood and worshipped

God. In Ravenna, Italy, (in ancient times, part of the

Byzantine Empire), heavenly beings and Jesus and His

saints were portrayed in mosaic frescoes. On a back-

ground of gold, lush, green meadows, grape vines, flow-

ers, bushes laden with fruit, and animals drinking at foun-

tains and pools can be seen. At liturgical services and the

reception of the Eucharist, the early Christians saw pic-

tured a risen, regal Christ, in beautiful natural settings

reminiscent of Paradise.

Perhaps the Early Christians did not focus on the suf-

fering Christ because they were so happy that He had

risen from the dead and

because they expected

His second-coming to

happen at any moment.Surrounded by the impe-

rial powers of Rome and

then Byzantium, when

violence and death were

common, perhaps they

just focused on living the

way Jesus taught them to

live--to love God and one

another; to love one's enemies; to pray for one's perse-

cutors; to meet evil with good; to be good stewards of

the earth; to reject violence and to live life fully, until

His second coming. Living that way, their lives would

be peaceful and blessed, and they would experience

Paradise, both in the world they lived in and in the

world that was to come.

There are many explanations as to why there was ashift from a regal Jesus to a crucified one; we'll leave

those explanations for another time. But we can say

with some certainty that the earliest cross showing the

suffering Jesus is the Gero Cross, sculpted from wood

in 965 in Saxony, in present day Germany. Thus since

about the year 1000, crucifixes in the West generally

show Jesus hanging on the cross, emphasizing his suf-

fering and death. In the East, crucifixes are usually less

about suffering and more about peaceful repose. In

many cases, we in the Eastern Churches simply use

decorated crosses that do not depict the body of Jesus.

Like the early Christians, we focus on the resurrection

of Jesus Christ, emphasizing His triumph over sin and

death. Good liturgical examples of this are the cele-

brations of the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross

in September and the Veneration of the Holy Cross of

Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Third Sunday of Great

Lent, when we sing "To Your Cross, O Master, we bow

in veneration, and we glorify Your holy Resurrection."

We are given this sign of strength, salvation, victory

and triumph half-way through Lent to sustain us and

encourage us during the second half of our Lenten jour-

ney (A Byzantine Rite Liturgical Year, Julian J. Katrij,

OSBM).

Prior to celebrating the Feast of Feasts, Pascha--the

Resurrection of our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ

--we spend more time focusing on God; we spend more

time praying, including participating in the Liturgy of

the Pre-Sanctified Gifts. We fast, we give alms to a

worthy cause, be it to a parish project or perhaps tohelp the earthquake victims in Haiti and Chile. We

clean our house and prepare pysanky and the various

Paschal foods that the priest will bless: bread, meats,

eggs, butter, cheese, salt and horseradish are all sancti-

fied so that the bread "might be unto salvation of souls

as well as bodily health for all who eat of it. May it

also protect against all illness and every attack of the

enemy."

[that] "we might delight in these foods that You

have hallowed and blessed to nourish us all."

[that] these foods might "preserve us in Your

goodness, so that partaking of them we may be filled

with Your gifts, which You, because of Your unspeak-

able goodness, bestow on us so ungrudgingly."

How well these food blessing prayers express what

Jesus wants for us here and now: a faith community, inwhich we express our love for one another; salvation,

health, protection against illness and evil; and the

enjoyment of all of His gifts, the fullness of His cre-

ation, while we await His second coming. We acknowl-

edge His death by crucifixion but see it over-shadowed

by His glorious Resurrection. On Pascha, we joyfully

sing "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling Death by

death, and to those in the tombs giving life." We are

truly an Easter people! We are people of the Resurrec-

tion!

Christ Is Risen!

We Are an Easter People!

Christ Is Risen! ! B!

ARTISTS CELEBRATE LIFE: The works of classi-cally-trained husband and wife artists Volodymyr

Podlevsky and Svitlana Moiseyeva is on exhibit at the

Ukrainian National Museum, 2249 W Superior Street

in Chicago. Sponsored by MB Financial, their work

"Ukrainian Universe" will be on view 11:00 am - 4:00pm, Thursday-Sunday until April 25. Admission:

Adults, $5.00; children under 5, free.

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

13/20

13NEW STARApril, 2010

Our calendar has references to "All Souls Satur-

days" and our bulletin says "sorokousty." Is this the

same thing? Why do we pray for the dead during

Lent?

If you don't mind a bit of historic background it may

help to sort out some details, and the answers may

become more obvious.

First, we do not use Lent as "a time to pray for the

dead". There is, however, a rationale for the reason it

seems so.

During the course of calendar development the

Divine Liturgy was celebrated according to a growing

pattern which appointed specific commemorations to

each day of the week.

Sunday was chosen to be a special day in the week,

as it represents the day on which Christ rose from the

dead. As the first day of the week, it recalls God's cre-

ation of "light" in the physical presence of the sun. As

a token of remembrance of The Day of Resurrection,

every Sunday shows forth a new brightness thatsupercedes the physical brilliance of the sun. Sunday

takes on a new perspective, and as a matter of com-

pleteness, acquires a new dimension. Sunday was

early-on referred to as "the Eighth Day"; every week

has Sunday as the eighth day of one weekandthe first

day of the next. Languages other than English express

a similar, yet different sense: "Resurrection" or "The

Lord's Day" are familiar terms to many Slavs or those

who know Romance Language-based tongues. Their

focus is upon Christ:Resurrectedand the Lord.

When Early Christians gathered on other days, other

commemorations were assigned. These may be seen in

prayer books to this day. Saturday is kept as a reminder

of God's creation--when He saw His work was "good"

and, satisfied, He rested. To express the fervent hope

that those who had lived their lives--worked to do

"good"--shared in the "rest" afforded them when their

toils were over, the deceased were historically remem-

bered on Saturdays. The other weekday commemora-

tions are: Monday, the Holy Incorporeal Powers

[Angels]; Tuesday, John the Forerunner; Wednesday,

The Cross and the Mother of God; Thursday, the Apostles

and St Nicholas; and Friday, the Cross.

So, with the possible exception that a Feast day falls ona Saturday, we may generally pray for the dead on every

Saturday--not just during Lent.

As far as "All Souls (Satur)days" are concerned, there

are several traditions that direct these observances. Those

who follow Greek or Slavic usages differ slightly. The

originally established days were two: the Saturday before

Meat-Fare Sunday and the Saturday before Pentecost.

Both were established to pray for and, in effect, find a

way to offer a proper funeral service for those who did

not have a "Christian" burial. People lost at sea, or else-

where were the main beneficiaries of these prayers.

Keeping in mind the liturgical theme, each of these two

days has its own reason for being chosen by Ninth

Century Studite monks: the eve of Meat-Fare Sunday, the

day on which the Fearful Judgment is recalled, is an

appropriate day to beseech God for compassion on those

who have died: that they be found blameless.

Likewise, the eve of Pentecost--the day on which the

Holy Spirit confirmed the faith of the Apostles--regarded

as the inception of the Christian Church--is an apt day to

pray for the deceased. While alive they were members of

the Church--and in death deserve prayers of the faithful

still living as Church. Both Greek and Slavic Traditions

maintain these two days.

In addition, Slav usage adds three of the Saturdays of

Lent (notevery Saturday). It is seen appropriate to re-

member the deceased with the plea that God keep them

in His Eternal Memory. This may have particular em-

phasis during Lent when our focus is upon bettering our

lives through introspection encouraged by fasting, doing

good works and praying--including for those who nolonger are able to pray for themselves. To honor some-

one, in Judaic thinking, was to remember them. By

extension, as Christians, there seems to be no better com-

mendation than to be placed before the Eternal Memory

of God, as our prayer pleads.

Our remembrance is the five-a-year All Souls Sat-

urdays on which we commemorate those deceased

family members at a Panakhyda. It is known as "Sorok-

ousty"--a term that refers to a practice established long

ago to have "forty" (sorok) "mouths" (ousty) sing the

services for the deceased. This is somewhat connected toour custom of praying on the fortieth day after death.

Forty singers was possible in monasteries where that

many people could be gathered at one time. Now it is

immaterial how many sing the service. As well, iIt may

be that since every Saturday may be a commemoration of

the dead, that a broader interpretation could be applied if,

in fact, a particular local custom has the panakhyda every

Saturday during Lent. Strictly speaking, it is not pre-

scrubed every Saturday, but it couldn't hurt. Remember:

someone will be praying for you someday!

Something inNew Starpuzzled me a few weeks ago.

Two pictures did not seem to fit the articles they were

in. One was about the Sunday of the Veneration of

the Cross and the other was about the Liturgy of the

Pre-Sanctified Gifts.It seems to me a priest said to our discussion group

that the icon of the "crucifixion" with other people in

it is not to be used for veneration during that day's

Liturgy, but a decorated cross is. And, I thought that

for the Lenten Liturgy of Pre-Sanctified Gifts, only

the "bread" is reserved for distribution at commun-

ion--and the chalice does not contain "pre-Sanctified

'wine.'" The photograph used suggests, to me at least,

that the Pre-Sanctified Gifts are both. I also thought

that service is not concelebrated (because it is ves-

pers).

You, and several others, are very alert. Alas, if the

choice of pictures had been shown to me beforehand,

those photos would not have accompanied those par-

ticular articles.

Ithink you know by now that my pastoral responsi-

bilities require me to make a fairly substantial com-

mute--i.e., more than 100 miles each way! On my

way to Mishawaka, I do some of my driving on a

crowded expressway, chugging past such garden spots

as Gary, Indiana. However, I get off I-94 as soon as is

practical, preferring instead to finish the trip on less-

crowded and less-hectic secondary roads. It was on one

such trip that I saw an interesting and thought-provok-ing sign in front of a roadside church: "If you are look-

ing for a sign from God, this could be it!"

Hmmmmm

This brings to mind a challenge which was put to

Jesus:

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him,

"Teacher, we wish to see a sign from You." He said to

them in reply, "An evil and unfaithful generation seeks

a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of

Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the

whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of

Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three

nights. At the judgment, the [people] of Nineveh will

rise with this generation and condemn it, because they

repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is some-

thing greater than Jonah here." (Matthew 12: 38-42)

Oh, my! This passage presents us with "the sign of

Jonah", a double challenge, confronting us right here

where we are--namely, the decisive moment which

stands between the completion of our forty-day Lenten

pilgrimage and the beginning of the great forty-day cel-

ebration of the Resurrection.

The first challenge confronts us as we reflect upon

the just-completed Great Fast. Just as the citizens of

Nineveh were confronted with a call to conversion, so

were we: the call came to the Ninevites through the call

of the prophet Jonah, while ours came to us this Lent

through preaching and through the liturgical and peni-

tential practices of our Church. The call is to "repen-

tance", which--some may be surprised to know--does

not refer only to penitential exercises; these may, after

all, be nothing more than external behaviors which we

"put on" to impress people, perhaps even to impress

ourselves! Rather, "repentance" literally means a

"change of direction", a change of heart which, it is

hoped, will be manifested in a change to more-Christ-

like behavior. An old hymn cries out to us "Turn back,

O man, forswear thy foolish ways"--in other words, if

we were smart we would stop offending God by hurt-ing others, for when we hurt one another we end up

hurting ourselves in the process. The Ninevites heeded

God's call and were converted; can we say the same?

Christ the judge declared that the pagan Ninevites were

better off than His ostensibly faithful Jewish contem-

poraries; how will He judge us--as individuals and as

Church?

The second challenge is that of Pascha: Resurrection.

Think back to the parable of the rich man and poor

Lazarus. After his death, the rich man was condemned

to eternal punishment because of his lack of concern

for the poor beggar. Resigned to his own fate, he pleads

pitifully with Abraham for his surviving family:

He said, "Then I beg you, father, send [Lazarus] to

my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he

may warn them, lest they too come to this place of tor-ment." But Abraham replied, "They have Moses and

the prophets. Let them listen to them." He said, "Oh no,

father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to

them, they will repent." Then Abraham said," If they

will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will

they be persuaded if someone should rise from the

dead." (Luke 16: 27-31)

This, of course, begs the question: Do we believe in

the Resurrection?

It is easy to sing "Christ is Risen!" with our lips, all

the while thinking that this refers only to something

that happened a long time ago in a far-away corner of

the world. If this were the case, we would say "Christ

arose", but that is precisely what we do not say: we

absolutely do not confine the Resurrection to the past

tense--as if Christ could be confined to one time or

place! A contemporary hymn tells it the way it is:

Christ is alive! No longer bound

To distant years in Palestine,

But saving, healing, here and now,

And touching every place and time.

As God brought Jonah back to life after his three-day

"death" in the belly of the whale, so does the RisenChrist come to us in the midst of whatever "death"

besets us--not only physical death, but also that death

which lurks in all other realms, be they spiritual or

emotional or relational or intellectual or behavioral.

After the death of His friend Lazarus, Jesus gave us a

foreshadowing of His Resurrection--and ours: Jesus

went to the tomb where Lazarus was buried; calling his

friend forth from death, Jesus ordered that the newly-

raised Lazarus be freed from the burial cloths by which

he remained bound. In the same way, Christ comes to

deliver us, to set us free from all that holds us bound.

He will not do so, however, without our consent and

cooperation.

Christ offers us the sign of Jonah. It was rejected by

the scribes and Pharisees, whose lives--like that of the

rich man--are held up for us as examples of paths to beavoided. In His Person, Christ presents us with a chal-

lenge straight out of the Book of Deuteronomy:

I have set before you life and death, the blessing and

the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descen-

dants may live, by loving the Lord your God, heeding

His voice and holding fast to Him. (Deut. 30: 19-20a)

We are offered many gifts: a sign to direct us and a

divine hand to lead us. Another gift is our free will,

which allows us to accept or reject God's other gifts.

May we choose wisely!

Fr. Jim Karepin, op

Why?/Why: By Fr Denny Molitvy

Send your questions for Fr Denny Molitvy to:

WhyWhyNewStar@cs.com

Include your name and parish.

Signs

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

14/20

WARSAW, Poland, (Zenit.org).- Representatives from

the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church

in Poland met to discuss steps toward reconciliation

between the two countries.

A communiqu from the Moscow Patriarchate's

Department for External Church Relations reportedthat their visit to Warsaw aimed to "discuss the

Churches' possible assistance in building good-neigh-

borly relations between the peoples of Poland, Russia,

Ukraine and Belarus."

It was organized at the invitation of Archbishop Jozef

Michalik of Przemysl, president of the Polish bishops'

conference, and Metropolitan SAVVA of Warsaw and All

Poland, who is the leader of the Orthodox Church in

Poland.

Participants discussed steps for strengthening rela-

tions between Eastern European countries.

They decided to establish a working committee to

develop a joint document on reconciliation between

these nations, highlighting the contribution of the

Churches in this effort.

Participants proposed setting up a bilateral commis-

sion, and discussed themes for future dialogue. They

suggested also including members of the OrthodoxChurch in Poland as well as the Catholic Church in

Russia to participate in this commission.

A communiqu at the end of the meeting stated that

"both sides noted an historical importance of the initia-

tive and the conversations, which are the first and very

important step on the way to the rapprochement of our

local Churches and reconciliation between our

nations."

"The two Churches," the statement affirmed, "hope

for the help of God's Providence and intercession of the

Most Holy Mother of God."

14 NEW STAR April, 2010

Churches Seek Accord in Eastern EuropeOrthodox, Catholics Discuss Reconciliation Strategies

t that time there was a feast of theJews, and Jesus went up to

Jerusalem. Now there is in

Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a

pool called in Hebrew Bethsaida with

five porticoes. In these lay a large num-

ber of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One

man was there who had been ill for thir-

ty-eight years. When Jesus saw him

lying there and knew that he had been ill

for a long time, he said to him, "Do you

want to be well?" The sick man

answered Him, "Sir, I have no one to putme into the pool when the water is

stirred up; while I am on my way, some-

one else gets down there before me."

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your

mat, and walk." Immediately the man

became well, took up his mat, and

walked. Now that day was a Sabbath. So

the Jews said to the man who was cured,

"It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for

you to carry your mat." He answered

them, "The Man who made me well told

me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" Theyasked him, "Who is the Man who told

you, 'Take it up and walk'?" The man

who was healed did not know who it

was, for Jesus had slipped away, since

there was a crowd there. After this Jesus

found him in the temple area and said to

him, "Look, you are well; do not sin any

more, so that nothing worse may happen

to you." The man went and told the Jews

that Jesus was the one who had made

him well. John 5:1-15

Saint John explained in the thirty-sixth

homily the second miracle of Jesus to

those who were baptized, and to us who

have lived the baptismal faith every yearof our lives. These are his words.

"'Now there is at Jerusalem, by the

Sheep Gate, a pool called in Hebrew

Bethsaida, having five porticoes. In these

were laying a great multitude of the sick,

blind, lame, and those with shriveled

limbs, waiting for the moving of the

water.' What manner of healing is this?

What mystery is being intimated to us?

For these details have not been written

without design or by chance? On the con-

trary, they give promise of the future to us

in figure and type, so that the very unusu-

al events to come later might not impair

the strength of the faith of most of us, by

happening without previous preparation.What, then, is it that this event foreshad-

ows? He was at the point of giving bap-

tism, which has much power and is a very

great gift, baptism, which cleanses of all

sin and brings meant to life, when they

have been dead. These effects were fore-

shadowed as if in figure by the pool and

by many of the other details of the event."The Fathers Of The Church: Saint John

Chrysostom: Homilies On The Gospel Of

Saint John p. 352)

Saint John Chrysostom in his wisdom

and depth of understanding is telling us

that the miracle of the man at the pool is

a prototype of Baptism. The man at the

pool takes up his mat and walks. His life

takes a new direction, he walks forward

in faith.

As we sing the Troparion of the Fourth

Sunday of Pascha, we recall that through

the saving acts of Christ our God, the

bonds of death and sin have been broken

by the reception of the Mysteries of Bap-

tism and Chrismation.Let the heavens be glad, let the earth

rejoice for the Lord has done a mighty

deed with His arm. He trampled death by

death. He became the first born of the

dead: He saved us from the abyss of

Hades and granted great mercy to the

world.

With pristine faith, we sing the Kon-takion on the Sunday of the Paralytic,

With Your divine protection, O Lord, as

You once raised the paralytic, now life up

my soul paralyzed with all kinds of sin

and evil deeds of wickedness, so that, as

saved, I may cry out to You: Glory be to

Your might, O merciful Christ!

Saint John Chrysostom lived shortly

after the age of the martyrs and during the

time of struggles in the life of the Church.

He received the Tradition of the Gospel

as a Catechumen and studied the scrip-

tures diligently. He graced the Church of

Antioch and Constantinople with his

teaching. He rigorously defended the

Faith of the Church.The wisdom of his teaching is still used

by scripture scholars in our own time.

When we proclaim the Gospel story of

the man who was cured at the pool of

Bethsaida we profess that our faith is the

same as that of Saint John Chrysostom.

The Troparion on the feast of Saint John

Chrysostom helps us understand hissaintly stature.

The grace that shines forth like a torch

from your mouth has enlightened the uni-

verse, bestowed treasures of generosity

upon the world, and shown us the depth

of your humility. While you teach us by

our words, O Holy Father, John, pray to

the Word, Christ our God, that He may

save our souls.

At the feast of Pentecost, we are com-

manded to announce the kingdom of

God. We do it the same way that we have

done it for centuries, by living and pro-

claiming the Gospel, by living a rich life

of faith, by being strengthened in our

faith through the intense way that we liveit.

Fr Deacon Michael Cook

S

aint John Chrysostom said this on the

Holy Gospel of Saint John on the Man

who was cured at the Pool of

Bethsaida:"Our faith is like a icon that sings the litur-

gy, the creed, together with the heavenly

hosts. In multifaceted ways it draws the mul-

titudes to its divine mystery. Our faith flows

through our beliefs and our practices. It

flows through the celebration of the Divine

Liturgy. It is present and is expressed in the

celebrations of the feasts of our Lord and the

Mother of God. It is present in the seasons of

the liturgical year during the times of cele-

bration and the times of fasting and feasting.

The deep and abiding question is, "How do

we proclaim our faith in a way that draws

others to the Mystical Supper and the deep

mysteries?"Our faith has its roots in Jerusalem, and

Antioch, which was an important city and

one of the first major Churches. It was from

Antioch that Saint Peter went to Rome

St John Chrysostom (347-404) after the

Initiation of the catechumens on the Fourth

Sunday after Holy Pascha, took up the Holy

Gospel of Saint John and read the account of

the Man who was cured at the Pool of

Bethsaida.

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

15/20

This summer there are five special

opportunities for people to learn

about their Church.

All are part of on-going programs that

have become popular with the intendedaudience: you.

Geared for the laity, religious and cler-

gy alike, they are open to the public--but

require pre-registration, to ensure that

there are adequate facilities and materi-

als available.

Back for the fourteenth time is the

Orientale Lumen Conference, this year

presented in two segments: North and

East. The common thread of "The

Councils of the Church" will be the

focus of the presenters.

From June 7-10 the North program

will be held at Seton Hall University,

South Orange, New Jersey.

Speakers will be Archbishop CYRIL(Vasil', SJ); Archimandrite Cyril Hov-

orun; Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ;

Father John Behr; Father George Gallaro

and Mr Elias Damianakis.

The East conference will be in Wash-

ington, DC at the Pope John Paul II

Cultural Center, Hune 21-24. Speakers

here will be: Metropolitan JONAH; Arch-

bishop CYRIL (Vasil' SJ); Archbishop

Donald Wuerl; Archimandrite Robert

Taft, SJ; Father Thomas FitzGerald and

Mr Elias Damianakis.

Each day includes prayer of the

Church; the Plenary Sessions, meals and

time for socializing. A visit to a local

parish church is part of the schedule on

Wednesday.

Early registration (by May 1) is

$195.00. Until June 1, when all registra-

tions must be made, the fees are

$225.00. Accommodations are $75.00

/night.

Sample videos of past Conference ses-

sions are online at: www.oltv.tv.

Registration forms and more informa-

tion on line at: www.olconference.com.

Orientale Lumen Euro-East III is in

Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey). Ses-

sions, all in English, will convene

Monday through Thursday, July 5-8.Friday. Saturday and Sunday offer tours

of Churches of Constantinople as well as

the Island of Patmos and Ephesus at

additional cost of $90 and $700 to the

$700.00 Conference fee and $120-

$200/night lodging. The topic is the

same. (Councils of the Church): Speak-

ers are Metropolitan KALLISTOS of Dio-

klesis; Archbishop CYRIL (Vasil' SJ);

Archimandrite Robert Taft, SJ; Archi-

mandrite Job Getcha; Sister Vassa Larin;

Professor Richard Schneider.

The internet addresses above have

information regarding passports, visas,

proper attire and airline connections.

Additionally, the Sheptytsky Instituteof the University of St Paul in Ottawa,

Ontario, Canada announces that there

will be two "Study Days" sessions.

Open to laity, monastics and clerics,

these sessions will be presented in

Ottawa and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

In addition to speakers, the Study

Days program includes several work-

shops with a variety of presenters.

In Ottawa, the program runs from

Monday, June 28 to Wednesday, June 30

(there will be a free public lecture on

Sunday, June 27 at 7:00 p.m.) The venue

is Saint Paul University, Ottawa, and the

theme: "Holiness and Healing" will be

addressed by Keynote speakers: Rev. Dr.

Michael Plekon; Dr. Suzette Phillips;

Rev. Dr. Myroslaw Tataryn;

Workshop speakers include: Presvitera

Halia Chirovsky; Presvitera Olenka Gal-

adza; Presvitera Melita Mudri-Zubacz;

Father Roman Galadza; Father Michael

Winn, Father Andriy Onuferko; Father

John Jillions; Father Andriy Chirovsky;

Brian Butcher; and Marika Hull.

In Edmonton, from Friday, July 30 to

Sunday, August 1, at King's College, theTheme "An Eastern Christian Feast for

the Mind and Heart" will be presented

by Keynote speakers--professors of the

Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Insti-

tute: Rt. Rev. Dr. Andriy Chirovsky;

Very Rev. Dr. Peter Galadza; and Very

Rev. Dr. John A. Jillions. Workshop

speakers are yet to be announced.

Costs of Registration are: Adults

$190.00 (late: $225.00); Seniors and stu-

dents $120.00 (late: $150.00); Familyregistration $350.00 (late: $425.00);

Student family $220.00 (late: $290.00).

One day adult registration is $70.00

Living accommodations are available,

and some of the courses may be taken

for academic credit. More information

and registration for both Study Days ses-

sions is to be posted to the website:

http://www.ustpaul.ca/Sheptytsky/

15NEW STARApril, 2010

Opportunities for Learning

Icon of the Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils

Ascholar friend of mine from Lviv who was

graduated from UCU when it was still

known as "Lviv Theological Academy" was

working on his doctorate in Patristics at

Washington's Catholic University of America. His

dorm room/cell was the last door way down a long

hallway. As you walked down the corridor most of

the rooms had doors open and homemade "Deliver

Pizza Here" signs were everywhere.

The rooms overflowed with typical college kids

sharing their trash metal tunes and giving each other

tattoos and piercings.

After running this gauntlet you eventually reached Oleh's door. There was a discrete

little notice right about where you might have knocked that said:

Before entering here, please pray:

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me a sinner."

Some time ago Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Mt Tabor) in Redwood Valley,

California, received new neighbors; Thai Forest Buddhists, who established

Abayaghiri ("Strong Mountain" in Sanskrit) Monastery next door.

They were interested in the process of building my strawbale cell and we became

friends, and one day Adjan Amero (the Buddhist Abbot) showed up with a twinkle in

his eye and a retreatant/novice monk in tow. The guru--spiritual father--of this monk

is from Tibet. I thought you might appreciate the mantra he assigned to this young

monk, to engrave upon his heart and to repeat it ceaselessly. The mantra is: (as the

young monk blurted out)

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God Have mercy on me a sinner."

You have to imagine Our Lord has a great sense of humor.

The "Jesus Prayer" Found

Where You Least Expect It!Bishops Give Tools to Sift the

Health Care SpinWASHINGTON, D.C., (Zenit.org).- With supposed experts and lawmakers plain-

ly contradicting each other in the debate over health care reform, U.S. citizens are

having to sift through misinformation to discover what the bill actually contains.

The nation's bishops are aiming to help voters in that effort.

The prelates are opposing the bill because it provides for tax dollars to pay for

abortions.

Supporters of the bill deny there is abortion funding. The bishops are now offer-

ing a one-page analysis of the bill showing how this is false and highlighting why

the measure falls short on moral grounds.

The bishops are also offering background information on current policy regard-

ing federal funding of abortion.

On the Net:

Resources:

www.usccb.org/healthcare

Analysis of abortion funding:www.usccb.org/healthcare/030410facts.pdf

Response to criticism of bishops' position:

www.usccb.org/healthcare/jost-response.pdf

Funding of abortion at community health centers:

www.usccb.org/healthcare/communityhealthcenters.pdf

Current federal policy on abortion funding:

www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/healthcare/abortion_funding_102309.pdf

Analysis of Stupak Amendment:

www.usccb.org/healthcare/StupakAmendmentFactsheet.pdf

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

16/20

April, 2010

Parish/Mission--location Goal As of % of goal3/18/10

Friends of St. Nicholas Eparchy $4,920.00Assumption of the BVM Parish - Omaha, NE $ 3,000.00 $ 25.00

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

17/20

KIRKUK, Iraq, (Zenit.org).- In the wake

of a killing spree in Mosul that left eight

Christians dead in 10 days, the archbish-

op of Kirkuk has declared March 1 a day

of fasting and prayer.

During his homily

Sunday, Archbishop

Louis Sako decried the

killings in northern

Iraq that are leading

more Christians to flee

the country.

Mosul is about 220

miles north of

Baghdad; Kirkuk is

roughly between the

two cities."The targeting of

innocent Christians,

especially in these

days in Mosul, in a bar-

barous manner, coinciding with the elec-

tions, is a shameful act," the archbishop

said. "It affects the design of God who

created us different, violates human

rights, hits the national partnership and

insults religious values.

"Wiping out Christianity from the

region, or forcing [Christians] to follow

the Islamic banner, will only lead the

country to become more radical.

"Therefore we have chosen to fast and

pray in protest against these heinous actsand in solidarity with our brothers, confi-

dent that the justice of God is inevitable."

Motives are unclear for the killing

spree in Mosul, though Archbishop Sako

attributed it to "tension and struggle

b e t w e e n

p o l i t i c a l

forces."

"It is un-

f o r t u n a t e

the country

today is go-

ing more

toward eth-

nic intoler-

ance, reli-

gious and

s e c t a r i a ndivision,"

he said.

The elec-

tions were

expected to

be compli-

cated at best. Many candidates were

barred because of ties to Saddam

Hussein's party and it is unclear if any

group will emerge with enough votes to

make a government. If not, tensions

between rival Muslim groups are only

expected to deteriorate further.

The last murder in Mosul was less than

a week ago: A father and his two sons

were killed in their home, in front of hiswife and daughter.

17NEW STARApril, 2010

DAMASCUS, Syria (Zenit.org).- The Pa-

triarch of Antioch and of All the East is

urging Arab leaders, the United Nations

and the international community to help

put an end

to the Iraqi

bloodshed.

Patriarch

I G N A T I U S

ZAKKA I

Iwas, who

also leads

the univer-

sal Syro-

O r t h o d o x

Church, is-

sued a state-ment urg-

ing "the

g o v e r n -

ments of the

world to uproot the terrorism and abuses

that are blooding Christians of Iraq."

"With great pain and grief," the Patriarch

said, "we follow all that is happening in Iraq

and especially to Christians of Iraq, victims

of persecutions, killings, looting, kidnap-

ping and sacrilegious acts: It seems the devil

has enlisted these men to spread chaos in the

country and among the people."

"We do not know why those who were

always faithful to their homeland and

attached to the heritage of Iraq are nowbeing targeted. We have published other

criticisms against this inhuman behavior

which is very far from religion," continues

the letter.

"Unfortunately, these criminals carry

out their acts in the name of religion but

Islam is completely for-

eign to them," he added.

Patriarch IGNATIUS

ZAKKA I asked what

could be the reasons for

such violence: "Is there

perhaps a plot to empty

Iraq of Christians who

are natives of that coun-

try? Or are there projects

sponsored by unknown

hands that some call one

day Zionism and anothera feud, or perhaps a

group of outlaws that has

as its religion the abuse

and damage of others?"

"There is nothing that convinces us on

why the state is not able to arrest and dole

out just punishment to these rebels and

outlaws, who are far from the principles of

religion, of power, of the state, of the law

and of humanity," continues the letter.

"This makes us doubt the intentions of the

authorities to whom we request, individu-

ally and collectively, to obtain justice for

the oppressed. "We cannot look at our

innocent children while people are being

slaughtered, killed, looted without any oneputting an end to it."

Patriarch Calls for

End to Bloodshed in IraqSays Behavior Is Inhumane, Far from Religion

Iraqis Fasting for End

to Killing SpreeProtest "Heinous" Slayings of Christians in North

Ukraine," these changes came after years of loose

orphanage regulations allowing abuse. Organizations

like Help Us Help the Children offer summer and win-

ter camps for orphans in Ukraine, but much more needs

to be done to improve individual orphanages.

The founders of the first children's daycare center in

Ukraine, the Sisters of St. Joseph have done much toimprove the lives of Ukrainian children. After sleeping

on mats on the floor while repairing their monastery in

the 1990s, the sisters turned their attention toward a

large building they acquired in 1996. After receiving

donations from several American donors through the

help of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation,

the Carpathian Foundation and even Ukrainian migrant

workers in Spain and Italy, Sr. Romana has hired con-

struction workers to finish the orphanage.

The sisters have received 1 million Hryvnias but

need at least 450,000 UAH (approximately $56,000)

more to make the building livable and then more to

maintain it. Workers have been coming 75 miles from

Lviv to live in the unfinished building while they work,

but Sr. Romana said they continued to work unpaid for

months only because they trust the nuns. In December,

the sisters were 150,000 UAH (approximately

$18,000) in debt and waiting for more donations to pay

the builders. Sr. Romana has hope the orphanage's

example will catch on for her order.

"But for now, [there will be] no expansion," said Sr.Romana.

Having previously worked in orphanages, Sr.

Romana plans to send her orphans to school with the

rest of the village children to integrate them with the

community. The other sisters at the monastery will han-

dle the daycare, and Sr. Romana teaches at the local

school. With a rich history including two martyrs in

their order, the Sisters of St. Joseph have begun

expanding and opening monasteries in Eastern

Ukraine.

Because of corruption, the government has strongly

resisted giving out money to people like Sr. Romana,

complicating the process of building the orphanage. At

one point during construction, Sr. Romana had only

30,000 UAH, or about $4,000.00. It was enough for

plumbing and electricity for a little bit longer.

Since she needed the Potelych city council's approval

in order to open the orphanage, Sr. Romana had a dif-

ficult time convincing villagers this was worthwhile.

Their suspicions have given way to trust, and now they

have joined her in her effort. According to her, the turn-ing point was when four of the children visited the vil-

lage. When the children finally came, the villagers

warmed quickly.

"Now they are waiting for them," said Sr. Romana.

Donations for the orphanage may be sent through

the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247

W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL, 60622. Please write:

"For Sister Romana--Potelych."

By Mike Rudzinski

from page 16

In a letter sent to the Iraqi prime min-

ister, the patriarch of the Syriac Catholic

Church accused the authorities of com-

plicity with the perpetrators of the mas-

sacre of Mosul Christians.

His Beatitude IGNACE JOSEPH III

Younan sent the letter to Nouri al-

Maliki, decrying the murder of Christ-

ians in Mosul, northern Iraq.

Eight Christians had been killed in 10

days, while others are leaving the areawhere their families have lived for 2,000

years in order to flee for safety.

The Patriarch affirmed: "While we

write you, our hearts bleed over the trag-

ic news we receive every day from

Mosul, where Christians constantly suf-

fer the attacks of 'unknown' criminals.

"They are murdered, massacred,

threatened on the streets, in schools and

even in their homes for the fact of

belonging to a religion that is different

from that of the majority of inhabitants

of the city.

An armed commando entered the

home of a Christian family, killing the

father and two sons in front of his wifeand daughter, whose lives were spared

by the criminals. Some 15,000 Christ-

ians remain in the Muslim-majority city

of Mosul.

Patriarch Younan continued, "But

what is worse is that there is no one who

asks questions about the issue of justice,

or about the issue of law, and there is no

one who punishes the aggressors.

Believe us: when it's too much, it's too

much!"

He wrote: "There is no human con-

science than can accept this lack of secu-

rity in Mosul, where it has become licit

to kill the innocent and defenseless.

"We are astonished at the reasonsgiven by government employees and

from their failure we can deduce that

there is complicity in the process of

emptying the city of Christians, who

have lived there for centuries.

The Patriarch asserted "what is hap-

pening in Mosul cannot be justified by

anyone, not for any reason, not because

of the election, or because of work, or

because of the conflicts between par-

ties."

"It's known that Iraqi Christians have

never sought power," he added, "they

haven't attacked anyone and have not

revenged themselves on the guilty."

He concluded, "Trusting in your wis-dom and impartiality, we thank you."

The Syriac Catholic Church has its see

in Beirut, Lebanon, though the majority

of its members live in Iraq (42,000).

Iraqi Government Accused of Complicity in Murders

Archbishop Louis SakoPatriarch Ignatius Zakka I

His Beatitude Ignace

Joseph III Younan

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

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18 NEW STAR April, 2010

From Philadelphia to New York City, Chicago, to

Newark, New Jersey, Hamtramck, Michigan to

Chesapeake City, Maryland, the Sisters of the

Order of Saint Basil the Great have been a major com-

ponent of numerous lives through schools, orphan-ages, and parishes. In preparation of their 100th

Anniversary of min-

istry in the United

States since 1911, the

Sisters are collecting

memories of the

many people whose

lives are intertwined

with the Sisters.

If you, or someone

you know, has mem-

ories of time spent

with the Sisters, pho-

tographs, or other

mementos--we would

not only like to hearfrom you but would

like to tape your memories! Or, if you are bashful and

have pictures or old movies (regardless of the format

i.e. 16mm, 8mm. etc), please share them with us for

the Centennial DVD..

Please contact Sister Dorothy Ann Busowski,OSBM by telephone (215) 379-3998 ext. 35; or e-mail

dabusowski@stbasils.com; or write to 710 Fox Chase

Road, Fox Chase Manor, PA 19046; or Sister Ann

Laszok, OSBM at 412-260-1607 or srannl@aol.com

The Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great are

a worldwide religious community. They respond tothe needs of God's people today, embodying the wel-

coming presence of the

Lord. In leading uniquely

effective and innovative

ministries in education,

spiritual direction, evange-

lization, and lay collabora-

tion, they bring the rich

traditions and mysteries of

the Eastern Church to

those they encounter. For

more information concern-

ing this rich heritage,

please call (215) 379-3998

or visit us on line at

www.stbasils.com.

100 Basilian Years--of Blessings

Mr Mykola Yaremko and Sr Ann Laszok, OSBM, videotape former students of the Sisters of St Basil in Jenkintown,Pennsylvania for the up-coming Centennial documentary. The Sisters are collecting "testimonials",

old movies, photos of the Sisters' work in different parishes and institutions of higher learning.

ROME, (Zenit.org).- There

is a "lack of spiritual con-

tent" in some priests, be-

cause they put their social

work before their spiritual

life, according to a Dutch

archbishop who addressed a

conference on the priest-hood.

Archbishop Willem Jac-

obus Eijk of Utrecht,

Nether lands, voiced his

concern about priests' spiri-

tual lives when he gave an

address titled "Between the

Spiritual Vocation and the

Social Role" at a confer-

ence held in March in the

Pontifical Lateran Univers-

ity on the occasion of the

Year for Priests.

The prelate considered

the historical context of

priesthood today, andemphasized that what is

most valuable in the priest-

ly vocation is the "intrinsic,

sacramental identity of a

man that represents Christ

in person."

He lamented that priests

often fall into the error of

stressing an "extrinsic

identity," that is, their

role as leaders of func-

tions in society and

Catholic organizations.

One of the causes of

this "must be sought in

the growing difficulty to

dedicate themselves to the

care of souls, an activity threat-

ened by secularization," Archbishop Eijk

reflected.

Changing times

The Dutch bishop recalled how the

Second Vatican Council emphasized the

priest's vocation to be another Christ.

"The council did not introduce a dis-

continuity in the identity of the priest,"

he said.

Nevertheless, Arch-

bishop Eijk suggested, a

discontinuity could be

seen in two phases.

There was a "gradual

modification of the way

priests lived their intrin-

sic identity, a phenome-non that manifested

itself at least in north-

western Europe, in the

'40s," he said. And in a

second phase, "the

social image that the

priest had until the end

of the '50s declined rap-

idly in the revolutionary

period of the '60s."

Archbishop Eijk said

the council came just in

time to avoid an even

graver undermining of

priestly identity.

Caring for ChristIn any case, though,

the bishop affirmed that

priests will always face

the challenge of having

to find a balance

between the social role

and spiritual life.

In this context, it is

important to avoid

"forcing" priestly

vocations, focusing

only on function, he

suggested.

And the prelate

alerted that the daily

life of a priest can easi-

ly bring him to fall into

activism, since he faces "the

pressure, tensions and disillusions linked

to the proclamation of the Gospel in our

society little open to the Christian faith."

Archbishop Eijk concluded by saying

that to remain faithful to the principal

aspect of their vocation, it is necessary

that priests "take care as much as possi-

ble of their relationship with Christ,

priest, teacher and pastor."

Prelate Urges Prayer Life over Social LifeLaments Priests with a "Lack of Spiritual Content"

The rector of UCU, Father Borys

Gudziak, Ph.D., was chosen as

one of the three representatives

of Europe for the Administrative

Council of the International Federation

of Catholic Universities (FIUC-IFCU).

He attended the first meeting of the

newly-chosen council in the NanzanCatholic University in the city of

Nagoya, Japan, on March 8-12. The

Administrative Council of the FIUC

devized strategies for developing the

association for the next three years and

worked out the changes to the renewed

mission statement of the organization.

He stated: "To represent Ukraine in

the FIUC is an extraordinarily impor-

tant precedent. Eastern Europe has

never before been represented in the

Administrative Council. I sense a

tremendous openness on the part of the

world network of Catholic universities

to cooperation and support, which for

us is very important. For many col-

leagues, especially here in Japan, the

testimony of our Church and the aca-

demic community is a source of inter-

est and inspiration. At the same time,

this is a great responsibility for UCU.

We, without a doubt, have difficulties

in our formation, but meetings such as

this one show that in other contexts dif-

ficulties and challenges are different,

but no smaller."

In addition to organizational ques-

tions about the world network of

Catholic universities, there was an

emphasis at the meeting on the expan-

sion of the organization due to interestin seeking new members. Today 211

universities and institutions of higher

educational belong to the FIUC; how-

ever, a large number of educational

institutions that have a Catholic identi-

ty, and even entire geographic zones,

still remain outside of this union and

miss out on the opportunity to ex-

change information and cadres, colle-

gial support, and their students miss

out on the chance to find new and

interesting educational programs and

friends outside their educational insti-

tutions, to discover for themselves the

inexpressible beauty and diversity of

the world.

Participation in the work of the

Administrative Council creates for

UCU the chance to share information

about our university, establish new

contacts, and begin interesting research

and educational projects. With great

anticipation we wait for the next

General Assembly of the FIUC which

will gather rectors, professors, and

administrators of the partner universi-

ties in Sao Paolo, Brazil, in July, 2012.

The members of the international

organization FIUC are continental fed-

erations, including the Federation of

European Catholic Universities

(FUCE), the assembly of which will

gather April 20 to 22, 2010, at theCatholic University in Lviv.

Rector of UCU in First Meeting of

Administrative Council of FIUC in Japan

--CAN YOU HELP US?

8/3/2019 NEW STAR - - April, 2010

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19NEW STARApril, 2010

All information for Bulletin

Boardis taken from parish weekly

bulletins. Send your church bulletinsor short items to:New Star; 2245 W

Rice St; Chicago, IL 60622-4858.

Or: e-mail NewStarNews@aol.com.

Urban dwellers were visiting relatives in rural New England. As they sur-

veyed the situation of the rather quiet environment, they were quite astound-

ed to notice the carefree attitude of everyone in the area.

Intrigued, they asked their hosts about the habit they noticed: no one seemed to

ever lock the doors--to their homes or cars.

"Oh, there are times when we do lock up," replied the amused family member,

adding "it's usually near the end of August."

"Just at the end of August? Why, is that when the tourists are around? I guess you

don't trust strangers."

"No, it's nothing like that at all" continued the elderly uncle. "You see, that's when

the zucchini is ready for picking. If you don't lock your house or car, everybody just

drops off their excess crop on your kitchen table or front seat of your car."

~~or~~

Walter was driving down the highway and noticed his dashboard lights

were not functioning because of a blown fuse. To check out the scope of

the situation he asked his brother: "Charlie, can you stick your head out

the window and see if my directional signal light is 'on'?"

Charlie rolled the window down, craned his neck to get a glimpse of the edge of

the signal light, and reported: "Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes."

Parish Mission on Line

As did many parishes, St Joseph's in

Chicago had a Lenten Mission. One

innovation was a live streaming

Internet presentation of the services and hom-

ilies that were part of the two-a-day sessions.

Parishioners who were not able to phys-ically attend because of job commitments,

health or other reasons, were able to

access the Internet "live" or visit the site

later to find the archived sessions.

Services were rotated by Fr Mykola Bur-

yadnyk, pastor, and associates Very Rev

Thomas Glynn and Fr Volodymyr Kushnir.

Lenten homilies in English and Ukrainian

followed the services, presented by Fr John

Lucas, Managing Editor ofNew Star, and

Fr Ivan Koltun, Administrator, Dormition

Retreat Center, Stradtch, Ukraine.

This manner of expanding the format of

evangelization uses one more tool as a

way to "get the Word out".

Should you wish to investigate the pro-gram at St Joseph's Parish, go to