His Beatitude: Not enough to seek salvation with mind – we must trust God

His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: UOC

His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry urged believers not to limit themselves to an intellectual faith, but to entrust their entire lives to God. On the feast day of Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church reminded his flock that true Christianity requires active obedience to the will of the Creator.

Addressing the faithful, the Archpastor emphasized that St. Olga is venerated as the enlightener of our land, who nurtured the seeds of faith sown by the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. His Beatitude noted that modern people often acknowledge God only intellectually while continuing to live according to their own whims.

“With our minds, we acknowledge that God is the Creator, that God is the Maker, that God is Providence, reason, beauty, wisdom, and power. God is everything, and we are God’s creation. We believe this and acknowledge it with our minds, yet we live as we please,” the Primate said.

According to His Beatitude, attaining eternal salvation requires moving beyond the mere acknowledgment of God’s existence and placing complete trust in His Providence. He explained that a believer must strive to fulfill not his own desires, but what the Lord commands.

“To be saved, we must both believe with our minds and entrust ourselves to God. We must not merely believe in God, but place ourselves in His hands. That means committing ourselves to God and doing what God wants – not what I want,” Metropolitan Onuphry emphasized.

The Archpastor gave examples from everyday life in which a person must choose between personal desire and Christian duty. He noted that instead of going to a soccer match or the gym, a Christian may be called to visit someone who is sick or fulfill an obedience in the Church.

“A person who entrusts himself to God does not do what he wants, but what must be done. He sets aside his own desires and goes to do what God commands. This is what it means to place oneself in God’s hands,” His Beatitude explained.

Concluding his sermon, the Primate called on the faithful to wisely distance themselves from everything that is contrary to the divine will. He wished believers to become worthy children of Holy Princess Olga, so that through her prayers the Lord might help each of them become an heir to the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

As the UOJ previously reported, the UOC Primate led the patronal feast celebrations at St. Olga Cathedral in Kyiv.

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