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TO OUR CLERGY, HIEROMONKS AND BROTHERS, RELIGIOUS SISTERS, SEMINARIANS AND BELOVED FAITHFUL

 “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” (Lk. 19:5)

For many of us, on the Sunday when we hear the Gospel reading of the ‘vertically challenged’ tax collector, Zacchaeus it means one thing for certain: the liturgical season of Great Lent will be upon us before we know it!

The details of his encounter with Jesus are familiar to all of us.  Zacchaeus, a sinful and avaricious tax collector, despised by everyone, hears Jesus passing by.  He experiences a sudden desire to see him in the flesh and climbs up a tree in order to catch sight of him.  Jesus notices him perched on a branch and orders him to climb down and take him to his house where Jesus dines with him.  As a result, Zacchaeus undergoes a total conversion from his sinful ways.

In many ways, the story of Zacchaeus mirrors our own personal story because each of us sits, mired in the morass of our sins and temptations, much like Zacchaeus at his money table.  Unfortunately, many people today remain in this deplorable state for a lifetime, content to be so.

But the story of Zacchaeus demonstrates to us that it does not have to be this way.  We are not necessarily doomed to live out our lives in sin and despair.  Jesus Christ came to this earth as man and God, to change the direction of our lives and to make them better.

Jesus is always seeking us out, always calling us by name, but many times the concerns and comforts of our life stifle His voice from reaching our ears, much like Zacchaeus, whose short stature prevented him from seeing Jesus through the crowd of people.

But something wonderful and unexpected happens to Zacchaeus.  He suddenly feels a tug of desire at his heart.  He realizes that he must, at all costs, see Jesus for himself, up close.  And, leaving his personal dignity at his table, he makes a spectacle of himself as he clambers, like a child, up a tree and onto an overhanging branch in order catch a glimpse of Jesus, passing by.  And the rest, as they say, is history.

What was this strange desire that suddenly came over him?  And, more importantly, can we also experience this same feeling that would enable us to leave our sins at the side of the road and radically change our lives and devote them to Jesus, as well?  The answer is: yes, we can, but not alone!

Fortunately for us, the Church realizes that we need help in hearing the voice of Jesus, we need help in experiencing the desire to see Jesus, we need help in climbing the tree of our personal conversion, and we are helpless if we attempt this with our own limited powers alone.  This is why the Church, in her wisdom, offers us the gift of the holy forty days of Great Lent each year before the celebration of Our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, as a divine aid in attaining personal conversion.

During Great Lent the Church presents us with a sure formula for achieving this goal: prayer, alms-giving and fasting.  During the time of Lent we are encouraged to be more devoted to our prayer life, through private meditation and by attending the beautiful and unique Lenten services celebrated in our parish churches.  We are also encouraged to pay special attention to our brothers and sisters around us, who may be suffering physical, emotional, or spiritual distress, and serve them in their needs.  And finally we are encouraged to fast, in order to attain humility through the taming of our physical appetites, our thoughts, our actions and especially our unruly tongue.

Standing on these three tall pillars of Great Lent, we will be able to rise above the crowd just like Zacchaeus climbing the tree.  Like Zacchaeus, nothing will be able to impede our vision, nothing will be able to block our hearing.  Zacchaeus shows us that, when we take the first, sometimes difficult step towards Jesus, He will always quickly hasten to us, always beckon us, always embrace us, always enter into our homes, always forgive us, always renew us.

Zacchaeus’ journey of conversion climbing up a tree towards a personal encounter with Jesus is a symbol of our own Lenten journey of conversion towards our own encounter with Our Lord during the time of Great Lent; a journey towards the moment when we recognize Jesus as Lord and Master of our lives.

For each of us the place of encounter is personal and unique.  For Zaccheus, the encounter took place in a very unlikely place, in the branches of a Sycamore tree.  For us it could be when we are immersed in prayer, or when we offer a helping hand to someone in need, or when we choose to speak good of someone rather than evil, or at some other time and place when we least expect it.

Our sincere prayer is that each of us, during this blessed time of Great Lent, may experience an encounter with Jesus and a personal conversion in Him so that we, along with Zacchaeus, would hear the voice of Jesus saying to us: “Today salvation has come to this house”.  (Lk. 19:9)
    
+Stefan Soroka
Archbishop of Philadelphia for Ukrainians
Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States

+Paul Chomnycky, OSBM (author)
Eparch of Stamford

+ Bohdan Danylo
Eparch of St. Josaphat in Parma

+John Bura
Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia

Very Rev. Richard Janowicz, Apostolic Administrator
 St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy in Chicago…

The Feast of the Holy Theophany (Epiphany) of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on January 6. The Feast commemorates the Baptism of Christ and the divine revelation of the Holy Trinity. At the Baptism of Christ at the river Jordan, all three Persons of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—were made manifest. During Theophany, people traditionally attend a prayer service… where the priest blesses regular water into holy water at the “Blessing of the Water” ceremony. This year, after the blessing of the water ceremony in the church, Fr. Ivan walked around the Assumption Catholic school with a small group of students and blessed each room with holy water and offered a blessing to students and staff. Father Ivan explained to children that Christ’s baptism in the Jordan was a “theophany,” a manifestation of God to the world, because it was the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry. He also asked students various questions about Feasts of Christmas and Theophany and was very pleased by their answers.

On Christmas Eve, January 6th, 2017 the Assumption parish has sponsored a traditional Holy Supper (Sviaty Vechir ) for all parishioners and guests. Many tasty lenten dishes were prepared and shared. Filled with the spirit of the carols and poetry, more than 100 people  truly enjoyed a traditional Christmas foods in anticipation of Christ’s birth. Thank you to the Holy Name  members  for sponsoring this event and for cooking lenten foods  for us to share during the Christmas Eve supper. Thank you to  St. Ann’s Society for sponsoring  baked goods for Prosfora.

Thank you to everyone who made our parish Christmas Concert a huge success last Sunday! Thanks to the parish youth group “Svitanok” for presenting a beautiful selection of carols, to our younger children for putting together a play "Malanka" and to our famous parish choir “Boyan” for singing popular Christmas carols. It was an outstanding teamwork effort and a successful parish event. I would  like to thank all those who gave their time and talents to make that afternoon possible, especially  Mrs. Iryna Borsa for preparing children’s program, parents of children for bringing  them to rehearsals, Mrs. Alla Korostil  for leading the choir “Boyan”, the choir members for sharing their talents and voices in the Christmas Joy. May God bless each and every one of you this year and forever.

This year, the Ukrainian National Home of Trenton Vertep visited our parish and presented a well organized vertep play with Christmas greetings and carols. Many parishioners of Assumption parish in Perth Amboy, NJ were deeply touched, for they witnessed re-birth of traditions from their own childhood.

The Ukrainian Assumption Seniors held a Christmas Party Thursday December 8th at the Reo Diner Woodbridge NJ. After a delicious lunch all in attendance received a Poinsettia a donation from Novak Funeral Home and cookies and a candy mug donated by Eleanor Kataryniak.The Assumption Seniors presented a  Christmas Gift of $2000 to Assumption Parish. An afternoon of fellowship was enjoyed by all who attended.

While it may seem too early to be thinking about the holidays, the students here at ACS in Perth Amboy, NJ are doing just that. They have taken on the role of being helpers to Saint Nicholas. Although his special day does not get here until December, donation of school supplies, books, and warm clothing items have been collected now so that they may reach the children of Ukraine that have been left parentless, homeless, or both, due to the continued war between Russia and Ukraine.

The Class of 2017 has taken on this effort as a class service project to coordinate the collection of these items to pass on to the Ukrainian American Youth Association. The U.A.Y.A. in turn will be sure that all donations make it in time for Saint Nicholas to make his deliveries of joy to the children. Hopefully, there will be many happy children when Saint Nicholas arrives in Ukraine with these wonderful gifts.

What an amazing first day of camp! The first day was a day filled to the brim with fun. It started out at our church hall where 22 children offered prayer to Almighty God. Then a day was filled with variety of fun activities that included a visit to St. Michael Archangel in our church after art project about angels. Strawberries, whipped cream, & "angel food" cake for snack after lesson about angels. Craft project with butterflies during discussion on the beauty of creation. The children also learn how to create their designs by watching their pastor create his. Melanie Fedynyshyn did a great job as our instructor for camp! She and her husband John have been pivotal in the success of camp. Pleases come tomorrow for the second day of crafts, fun bible stories, snacks, BBQ in Fr. Ivan’s rectory, inflatable bouncer and much more.

Today, we have completed the second day of our Bible Summer Camp at the Assumption parish in Perth Amboy, NJ. Throughout the day the children took part in many different fun activities like playing in the bounce house and participating in "Leaping for the Lord" potato sack races. In addition to activities children listened to stories and heard teaching that all clearly spoke to the power of the Gospel! The campers also worked on "Abraham mobile" and "Baby Moses" projects and composed their own version of a "Genesis Mural”. For lunch today, campers ate a delicious barbeque at the church rectory
There were lots of amazing projects and lots of new friendships made. Hopefully next year some of you will join in the fun!!