“Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are” (John 17:11).
This Sunday commemorates the first ecumenical council (council of the whole Church), held in the city of Nicea, near Constantinople, in the year 325. The Gospel read on this Sunday is the final part of Jesus’ last teaching discourse to his disciples, just before he was arrested, as recorded by John. This gospel tells us about the whole divine plan for our glory and salvation.
Jesus first tells his disciples that he must leave them. Leaving them, however, does not mean abandoning them. Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. (John 14:18-19)” First, Jesus is going because he is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6). Second, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be” (John 14:3). Jesus tells us, “It is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). Why? Because “when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth” (John 16:13).
The climax of everything is that we will become like God, one in the Holy Trinity, “now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are” (John 17:11).
This is the glory of God, to bring all together in unity, for God is one. This does not mean that we will all be the same, for God has created us in a wonderous diversity, but we will all be united because there is only one truth, and we must live in the one truth. This is why the Council formulated the one truth about the one God, in the Holy Trinity. Each and every one of us must glorify God in the one truth, in “one mind and one heart” (Anaphora).
The ascension of our Lord into glory is the seal on his resurrection. Jesus taught Nicodemus, “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man” (John 3:13). St. Paul further explains that the ascension is the sign of his victory over the Hades, the kingdom of death, “What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended into the lower regions of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:9-10).
“…He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father.”
Peter Struk, 94, of North Haven, passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 3, 2018 at the MidState Medical Center, Meriden with his family by his side. He was the beloved husband of 70 years to Melanie Horn Struk. Peter was born on June 3, 1923 in Brzezany, Village of Litiatyn, Region of Galizien, Ukraine and was the son of the late Jacob and Chyma Slywka Struk. Peter was a member of the Carpenters Union Local #79, and worked as an installation technician for Atlantic Floor Covering in New Haven until his retirement. He was an avid gardener and a member of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Church for many years. Father of Peter H. (Victoria) Struk and the late Anna E. Struk. Grandfather of Peter A. and Sarah Struk.
[Today] On May 8, we celebrate one of the two feasts of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John, the brother of James. The other is on September 26, the day of his falling asleep. The fourth Gospel is attributed to John, and we can truly call it a “theo-logical,” for it witnesses most clearly to the mystery of the Incarnation, of the Word of God taking flesh in the womb of the Holy Theotokos for our salvation. It is the most sublime Gospel, and it gave John the title “Theologian.”
During the month of May our Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church honors the Mary the Mother of God in special prayer services as the akathist and moleben services. Mary was the humble servant of the Lord Who was always one with Her Son, our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The story of the Man Born Blind is the third Sunday Gospel in Pascha about the mystery of baptism. This gospel is very clear, “Jesus spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his the blind man’s) eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and came back able to see” (John 9:6-7). The clay represents the anointing we receive at baptism, making us “Anointed Ones,” (Christs, or Christians) and the washing represents the washing in the water of baptism. The blind man can then see, he is “enlightened,” the name the Church gives to baptism. Two observations: to be truly enlightened, we need humility.