‘He loved you, and he prayed for you’: I’m not Ukrainian, but my bishops are Ukrainian Catholic (Catholicity: Identity and Its Discontents)

It occurred to me while Metropolitan Stefan (Soroka) of Philadelphia was preaching one of the services that – blessed be G-d! – this is not some random public figure; even though I have never met him personally (although our eyes locked as he waved the blessing cross over me this morning at the Divine Liturgy), it hit me like a ton of bricks that this is one of my pastors now. In every Divine Liturgy, All-Night Vigil, and even daily prayers at home (at least the ones that I use in the Jordanville Prayer Book), we commemorate our hierarchy: Francis, Pope of the God-saved city of the First-Rome; Sviatoslav, Patriarch of Kyiv and Halych and all Rus’ and Exarch of Great Ukraine; our reverend metropolitan (I’m used to Lawrence because I’m from Canada); our God-loving bishop (I’m used to Kenneth because I was chrismated in the Eparchy of New Westminster). But here in the United States, the metropolitan we’ve been commemorating both publicly and privately is Stefan because that’s what we do liturgically in this Archeparchy.

And this eparchy’s bishop was Richard (Seminack), until August 16, when he reposed.

As I said in an earlier post, I really did not know very much about Bishop Richard. At the parastas and the Divine Liturgy, I learned a little more from the homilies. It was publicly emphasized that while he had been a very happy priest in Philadelphia, his thirteen-year tenure in Chicago – in an eparchy that goes from Indiana to Louisiana to Hawai’i – had been full of challenges. ‘He was a man of shortcomings,’ one of the homilists said (there were two homilies, one at the parastas, one at the Divine Liturgy, and Metropolitan Stefan only gave the one at the parastas), ‘and sometimes people went out of their way to remind him of them.’ Part of it was that he had never been in good health since he became bishop; as one of the homilists said, if it wasn’t this part of his body hurting, it was another part, and eventually, he got cancer, ‘and [this last part is a direct quote] it was the chemo that did him in.’ In fact, both homilists were quite open about the complaints about Bishop Richard; one said that he once was at a dinner where he witnessed ‘words that he did not know could be said in front of a bishop about him.’

And yet, as both homilists reiterated, Bishop Richard never complained. Instead, he offered it as prayer to G-d, along with his other bodily sufferings. We were told that toward the end, one of his close friends came from Philadelphia to hold his hand through the night. We learned that Bishop Richard even then had a sense of humor; when she told him that she wanted to take his place in the sufferings, he thought about it for a little bit and then said, ‘Well, why don’t you jump in the bed already?’ We were reminded that Bishop Richard’s motto was Taken-Blessed-Broken-Given. Not only was he the bishop around whom every temple in the eparchy gathered around for the Eucharist since his appointment in 2003; more importantly, his very body – this frail, sickly body that was then subjected to all kinds of complaints – was what he gave us as bishop. His body, lying in state, was poured out for his eparchy as a eucharistic sacrifice.

The truth is, I missed being under Bishop Richard’s jurisdiction by one day; he reposed the day before I got on the plane for Chicago. But for some reason, the most poignant parts of the service for me were when Metropolitan Stefan said (and he said this more than once) that among Bishop Richard’s final words were: I love them, and I pray for them. He said this of his brother priests and of the deacons. He said this of his people, even those who complained about him. He loved you, and he prayed for you, Metropolitan Stefan said over and over – and now he will pray for us in all eternity.

I am Ukrainian Catholic because, even though Bishop Richard was never my bishop, I am among the people for whom Bishop Richard now prays as he sees G-d face to face. I am Ukrainian Catholic because the commemorations of my church go from Pope Francis to Patriarch Sviatoslav, and when I was in Richmond, went to Metropolitan Lawrence and Bishop Kenneth. I am Ukrainian Catholic because now that I am in Chicago, I hear the commemorations as going to Metropolitan Stefan and then to whoever will be appointed to fill Bishop Richard’s shoes. These are my pastors, and I am in this church, and I even vowed during my chrismation to uphold this church’s holy canons. As Sister Vassa points out, the canons are to be interpreted as the measure by which G-d’s house is built up. It means that I promised to build this house, whether I am ethnically Ukrainian or not.

So what do I do if I am not Ukrainian but have been chrismated into the UGCC? Metropolitan Stefan said that the offering of Bishop Richard of his broken body and poured-out life shows us what – and I quote, as this evangelical language may be hard for some to believe he said, and he did say it – our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will do for us as we offer ourselves: Jesus takes us into his presence so that we behold his face eternally. In this way, the hierarchs of the UGCC gently shepherd me as part of the people in their care into that encounter with the Lord. These pastors guide us to know our Lord and Saviour. All I do as a person in this church is to be part of the gathering around them in the Eucharist, for at every Divine Liturgy that is served, there I am gathering at table with my bishop, who presides as the Spirit is called down upon us and on the gifts, changing them by your Holy Spirit! Amen! Amen! Amen!

It was thus that I had a moment of immense grace after all the services were done. As I waited outside to see if there was anyone that I actually knew at these services, a presbyter walked by and said with a smile, ‘Hi.’ As he passed, I called out to him, Glory to Jesus Christ! He turned around in surprise – this is, after all, an everyday Ukrainian greeting (Slava Isusu Khristou) translated into English – and with an even bigger smile, he shouted, Now and ever! (Slava na v’iki!)

What makes me part of the UGCC is not my ethnicity. It is that I am a canonically part of a Church from Ukraine for the world, and as a church, we manifest as a people the glory of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, both now and ever and for ages of ages, amen.

In this way, the ministry of Bishop Richard has just begun. Our G-d-loving hierarch Richard, you who poured out your life and gave your body as a sacrifice for your people, you who now stand beholding the face of Christ in paradise, pray to G-d for us! Вічная пам’ять!