A beautiful Christmas message from a country immersed in a terrible war

This Christmas, like every year, many families will once again gather around the world to celebrate the coming of the Son of God into the world.

The true meaning of Christmas explained by someone who lived it in dark times

Many of us are fortunate enough to enjoy this holiday in peace. Others cannot say the same, but even in the most terrible and dark circumstances, Christmas opens a door to light, love and hope. Last Friday, from a country mired in a terrible war, Ukraine (now experiencing its third Christmas since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022), His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church - the largest of the Eastern Churches in communion with Rome - published a Christmas message from which I would like to highlight the following:

This winter, the enemy wants to turn Ukraine’s darkness and cold into weapons of mass destruction – the cheapest in the world! Every night, the aggressor’s airstrikes methodically destroy our cities and towns, homes and their vital infrastructure, and kill civilians. The enemy seeks to turn a flourishing country into a frozen desert by exporting the wasteland of its own Siberia to Ukraine. What it cannot steal, it recklessly destroys; whom it cannot enslave, it kills. Wherever it goes, there is no place for anyone – neither God nor man. How much effort he puts into sowing cold, hunger, darkness and his own spiritual emptiness! This can be said with certainty about him in the words of the prophet David: "Will not all these scoundrels who devour my people as though they were eating bread come to their senses? They do not call upon the Lord, therefore they tremble with fear, for God is with the family of the righteous. You want to laugh at the plan of the poor, but the Lord is their refuge" (Sal. 14, 4-6).

But despite the uncertainty, anxiety, mourning and sadness, we Ukrainians celebrate Christmas, as our ancestors did from generation to generation, even under the godless communist regime of the last century. In the hiding places of the Carpathian forests, in exile or secretly in their homes, they lit a Christmas candle as a sign of living faith, as a sign of the presence of Christ the Savior among us. When there is darkness around, the light, which is the newborn Lord, shines even brighter! He himself assures us: "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not wander in darkness, and he will have the light of life" (John 8:12). Thus, he makes each one of us a bearer of the light of God: "You are the light of the world... Let your light shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:14, 16).

The light of the Newborn in the soul and body of our people illuminates the space of hope and indomitability. When darkness surrounds us, may the light of Christmas within us become even brighter! Instead of complaining about the darkness, let us light at least one Christmas candle! When we are cold, let us warm at least one person with the kindness of our own hearts, and together we will be warm in the love of God! Let us spread this Christmas light and warmth around us today.

In the midst of the night of prolonged Russian aggression, we, Ukrainians, kindle the invincible light of God's truth and love with our testimony.

I take as my own the words of the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: May the light of the Child Jesus illuminate your hearts this Christmas and fill you with love, joy and hope and drive away darkness, pain and sadness, especially from those of you who suffer the horror of war.

Merry Christmas!

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Photo: Українська Греко-Католицька Церква.