Sviatoslav Shevchuk: 1000 days of war – 1000 days of hope

by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church

Source: Ukrainska Pravda

The 1,000th day of the great war. Today, many are looking back, reflecting on how we’ve lived through these 1,000 days.

Yesterday’s attack on Odesa killed at least 10 people; more than 200 missiles and drones struck Kyiv and other peaceful cities across Ukraine on the morning of Nov. 17. The tears of Maksym Kulyk from Kryvyi Rih and Yaroslav Bazylevych from Lviv, who tragically lost their closest family members in an instant due to enemy strikes; the daily funerals of the fallen, from Zaporizhzhia to Uzhhorod and from Sumy to Kherson – these are the signs of the tragedy of our time.

These 1,000 days have been filled with blood, death, pain, destruction, and devastation. On Feb. 24, 2022, the unjust Russian aggressor brought death and ruin to Ukrainian soil. But even in that moment of crisis, and now, we continue to believe that God is with us. In Him is our hope, and from Him will come our victory.

This is why this period, despite everything, is also one of great hope for the Ukrainian people. A 1,000 days of hope!

Our hope is not an empty feeling. We experience the presence of Jesus Christ – God who became man – in the suffering bodies of the Ukrainian people. He is the one who, once again, is condemned to death, tortured, and killed. He allows Himself to be imprisoned, and He goes into captivity alongside Ukrainian soldiers. He is among the missing. His body is wounded. Yet, He has conquered evil, sin, and death, and He has risen from the dead.

We have hope because we believe in the resurrection. The great war is 1,000 days of experiencing the power of the resurrected Christ within the bodies of Ukrainians. Today, resurrection pulses in our veins, and we await its fullness. We are a people who hope in the power of the risen Savior, and experience His strength in our own stories every day.

Throughout history, there have been times when it seemed our culture and identity would be destroyed. Let us remember the year 1240 when the Tatars destroyed Kyiv. The only building that survived was St. Sophia Cathedral, where the famous mosaic of the Kyiv Mother of God-Oranta remains – a symbol of our resilience and hope.

We have faced similar tragedies since – during the Russian Empire’s conquest of Ukrainian lands. The systematic persecution of the Church was part of the effort to erase Ukrainian identity. But we withstood, and even in the darkest times, the Ukrainian Church and people found the strength to rebuild.

By God’s grace, we stand today, we fight, and we pray. We place our hope in His power, which even manifests in our wounds, tears, and sorrow.

So much hope has been born in us over these 1,000 days! This hope is shared by soldiers, volunteers, medics, rescuers, fathers, mothers, and children – the hope of those who share their last with those in need, who lift up the fallen, and help those in despair.

With hands raised to the heavens, we pray for God’s people, who are destroyed daily, condemned to death, and wounded. And we say to the Lord: “Remember us!” This is our calling to freedom.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Lord called us to believe that our freedom is not a dream, but His will. And today, we live with a renewed understanding of God’s people and the history of our country. As Hryhorii Skovoroda once said, the culture of our people is “Paschal” – rooted in Christian hope, which always remains “affirmed.”

On Feb. 24, 2022, they gave us three days. But today marks the thousandth day of this great war. And we, witnesses of hope, firmly declare: Ukraine is wounded, but not defeated. Ukraine is tired, but it stands – and it will stand!