St. John The Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Newark NJ

Arrival of The Hierarchs

On June 2nd, 2019, the Pontifical Divine Liturgy in our church was served by the Most Reverend Bishop Ihor (Voznyak), Archbishop and Metropolitan of Lviv, along with the Most Reverend Bishop Volodymyr (Gruta), the Assistant Bishop of the Lviv Archeparchy alongside with the Most Reverend Bishop Michael (Bubniy), the Exarch of Odessa, as well as the priests who serve Ukrainian communities, here, in America. Parishioners and guests from the surrounding and neighboring towns additionally joined the prayer.
Most Reverend Bishop Volodymyr addressed the faithful through his word of preaching, emphasizing the importance of unity with God: "It is impossible to have knowledge about God or talk about Him, but it is much more important to be as well as converse with Him. The Gospel story from John describes to us, how3 Jesus Christ remembers us in his Pontifical prayer; subsequently, Jesus gave His life for us as His highest manifestation of love towards us, Christians. Through His Ascension Jesus does not desert the world but continues to take care of us, despite the fact that not all recognize it. In the history of the church there were heresies that needed appropriate reactions and responses. Today we commemorate and celebrate the Week of the Holy Fathers, as we recall the events of the 1st Counsel of Nicea in 325. The Church is alive and it is always in need of reforms because the church itself is not a museum; in fact it is constantly evolving. In the church is where we strive to live. The Bishop stressed the relevance of the permanent testimonies of the faithful in every period of church history."
The pastor of the church, Fr. Taras Svirchuk, expressed sincere word of gratitude to the hierarchs, emphasizing the importance of this solemn Hierarchical Liturgy for parishioners and guests of the church. Fr. Taras additionally noted that the Bishops do come from the Redemptorist Monastic Order, an order that nourished them and shaped them into who they are today as highly revered fathers of the church.
After end of the Liturgy, a common lunch was held in the basement of the church; and subsequently afterwards, the Metropolitan of Lviv gave his Hierarchical blessing to all those present.
The sermon can be viewed here.