His Beatitude: When you fall, always ask God to lend you a helpful hand

Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: the UOC press service

On August 10, 2025, at the Agapitus Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, celebrated the Divine Liturgy and delivered a sermon on the Savior walking on water.

In his address to the faithful, His Beatitude explained the spiritual meaning of the Gospel narrative about Christ walking on water towards His disciples, and the Apostle Peter went out to meet Him.

A lesson in humility for good-doers

Metropolitan Onuphry emphasized that after performing good deeds, a person should humbly step aside so as not to overshadow the true Benefactor.

"We should not claim for ourselves what belongs to God. If God has done a good deed through us, we should humbly step aside so that the beneficiary can see their benefactor," said the Primate.

His Beatitude highlighted that after the miracle of feeding five thousand people with five loaves, Christ sent the apostles away so they "would not prevent people from seeing their benefactor:, and He Himself went up the mountain to pray all night.

"Good deeds should be alternated with prayer," emphasized Metropolitan Onuphry.

On the union of mind with God

In his sermon, the Primate paid special attention to the spiritual interpretation of the Apostle Peter walking on water. According to His Beatitude, when Peter looked at the Savior, his mind was united with God, and he received grace that allowed him to walk on water as if on dry land.

"When a person unites their mind with God through prayer, contemplation, and reading the Holy Scriptures, they receive from God the rational strength, the grace of the Holy Spirit, which strengthens a person for every deed," explained the bishop.

However, when the apostle took his eyes off Christ and began to look at the waves, the grace diminished, and he began to sink. "The sign that a person has lost grace is fear," noted the Primate.

A call to repentance

His Beatitude sees the main lesson of the sermon in the reaction of the Apostle Peter to his fall. Instead of despair, he cried out to the Lord: "Save me!"

"When a person is sinking, losing grace, they should not fall into despair but should turn to God," emphasized Metropolitan Onuphry.

The Primate drew a parallel with the fall of Adam, who instead of repenting, began to justify himself. "If he had said, 'Lord, forgive me!', the history of our life on earth would have been different," said His Beatitude.

Divine mercy

Concluding the sermon, Metropolitan Onuphry recalled God's boundless mercy: "God has much mercy. He extends His hands and lifts a person, and like the prodigal son, He will clothe them in the best robe, put a ring on their hand, shoes on their feet, and kill the fatted calf for us to have repentance."

The Primate called on the faithful to live their earthly life "wisely in a Christian way" so as to be worthy "in eternity to partake in eternal bliss in heaven in Christ Jesus".

Earlier, the UOJ reported that His Beatitude led the feast day in Feofania.

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