Father Christopher Zugger

From Bishop Borys Gudziak, the Rector of Ukrainian Catholic University

“We urge the national deputies from the pro-government parties to be aware that by their votes they have encroached on the Constitution of Ukraine. [And we urge them] immediately to restore constitutional order in the state.

“In its very essence this brutally enacted legislation violates the democratic rights and constitutional freedoms of the citizens of Ukraine, in particular freedom of conscience, view point, speech, information, assembly, association, communication, movement, and the rights to property and privacy. We want to recall: the government is not the source of human rights. Human dignity is. And so the government cannot take away that which is given to the people not by it but by God.” – An excerpt from the “Statement of the Ukrainian Catholic University on the Further Deterioration of the Sociopolitical Situation in Ukraine,”  which can be read in its entirety here:

http://ucu.edu.ua/eng/news/1829/

And here is an intriguing article from Forbes by a former correspondent of the Kyiv Post and Korrespondent on the difference between the Orange Revolution and today’ Euromaidan and the use of Twitter and social media have leveled the playing field:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/01/18/if-you-doubt-that-social-media-has-changed-the-world-take-a-look-at-ukraine/

but leadership is necessary! And here the opposition wavers – no one strong leader.

Bishop Borys’ warning ends on a strong note: the power of the Son of God and His Truth. Jesus Christ Conquers, as is stamped on every prosphora, the loaf of bread that will be transformed into His Body for Communion. All dictators go, though so slowly and with such pain for the innocents like Herod’s massacre, but Jesus does not go anywhere. He is Eternal God, Who through the gates of birth, came to earth and pay the price so as to offer us Life, as the Christmas carol tells us.

In Ukraine, they are moving from Theophany back into pentecostal time. In the US, we will close out the 40 days of Christmas within a couple of weeks, and then begin Pre-Lent. Either way,  Christ remains at the center, and through Him, the Trinity. God does not stand with those who kill and torture like this – He stands for the full development of His children in this all-too-short life given us on earth. May the leaders in Ukraine stop turning back the clock and hearken to the proclamations of the services which they attended: Christ Who is born in simplicity, Christ Who is baptized in humility, this Christ is the ultimate model for all leaders. S Bohom – God is with us.