Patriarch Lubomyr: Year of Chirstian Life Will Accent the Conscerated Life

Monday, 11 January 2010 18:57

The year 2010 according to the decisions of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, which was held on November 29 through December 5, 2009, in Lviv, will again be the Year of Christian vocation, but with an accent on the vocation to a consecrated life. As we reported before, in 2008 the Church emphasized Christian vocation in general. “Everybody has some vocation from the Lord, and each has to cherish this vocation, to respect, to develop, and to use the possibly for one’s good and for the good of people,” His Beatitude Lubomyr, the head of the UGCC, explained in an interview for listeners of radio Voskresinnya (Resurrection). In 2009 an accent was placed on the vocation to priesthood. The Church aimed to help the people with a vocation to priesthood execute their ministry. As an example of a good pastor the holy martyr Omelyan Kovch was selected, and on April 24, 2009, in Kyiv he was solemnly proclaimed the Promoter of Pastors of the UGCC. “The Year 2010,” according to the head of the UGCC, “will underline the fact that among the vocations which the Lord granted there are also vocations to a consecrated life, which has its special signs. They are declared in the Evangelic advice. A human who feels in himself such an appeal of the Lord chooses a modest life, renounces the Earth’s goods, remains unmarried, and, thirdly, promises obedience to the Church.”

“This form of vocation is extraordinarily important for the whole Church. These people by their life, activity, and prayer testify the basic Christian truth in the Christian community. They renounce something, not because it is bad, but to better serve God,” His Beatitude Lubomyr explained. According to the head of the UGCC, this year greater attention will be paid on vocation itself “in order to encourage those young people, men or women, who feel such a vocation, to respect it, cherish, follow God’s call, and God’s invitation. And from the other side, so that the whole Christian community supports those people who feel this vocation and live in it, and, not create obstacles,” His Beatitude Lubomyr said.

In addition, the head of the UGCC noted that it is needed also to bring attention to the vocation of the laity, its task, its consciousness, responsibility, life, and holiness in Christ’s Church, because the laity make over 90 percent of all Christian people. “I think that such an accent will be the very logical completion of the whole triennial period,” His Beatitude Lubomyr said in closing.

At the beginning of the next year on the official web page of the UGCC will be published the Proclamation to the Faithful of the UGCC of 2010 the Year of Christian Vocation with a special accent on the vocation to a consecrated life.

Information department of the UGCC

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