In your Divine Liturgy, and to be part of your 75^th Anniversary celebrations. You are to be commended for your steadfast faith in keeping with the traditions of our Church, and allowing for the continuous bonding of family, community, and tradition.

It is the Hoiy Traditions of our Church that allow for the unity of the family and community of the Church and in keeping true to the true teachings of Jesus Christ, and the teachings and traditions established by the Holy Fathers over a thousand years ago.

We as Ukrainian Orthodox Christians in Canada face many challenges of a society going wrong. It is because of these challenges why we must learn more on our Orthodox faith to ensure we do not become engulfed in the moral decay of our society. Outside of the walls of the Church is a world of temptation. More and more people rely on electronic media such as television, computers and the Internet which open up the doors to a higher risk of moral decay. Although I do believe the Internet is a tool to learn and to gain information quickly, I also believe that we must teach our children that all information gained from the Internet is not always correct or reliable. We have to teach our children what is wrong vs what is right, what is correct vs the incorrect, and what information on the Internet is moral so that the immoral information may be avoided.

We often look to other societies and make judgements about the corruptness or moral decay, when in fact, we need not look very far here in Canada to witness jealousy, envy, hate, destruction, immoral values. Years ago we lived in a world when we looked to our nation's leaders for moral leadership, when a man was taken at his word. Now, we live in a world when lawyers are hired to evaluate the meaning of words and to determine what "is" is and what "is" means.

Yes, we do live in a free, democratic society, but along with that freedom and a comfortable life we must return to God what He has given us. And He has given us many blessings!

Generally, we have become too comfortable with our lives in this democratic and free country where opportunities allow for a fairly easy life and where God is being ignored. We'll jog on Sunday mornings, we'll go the cabin, and we'll shop on Sunday mornings, but we can miss church because we have lost our self-discipline.

The late Rose Kennedy, mother of the late John F. Kennedy, matriarch of the Kennedy family in the United States, was a devout Roman Catholic who instilled in her children a tradition of public service. She said once that the Kennedy family had received so many blessings from God, how fortunate they were to be in the financial situation of wealth, and that because of their wealth they were in a position to help others who were less fortunate, and that they must take an active role in helping others through some form of public service. By doing this she felt that they were returning to God thanks for the many blessings she felt the family received from Him. The Kennedy family tradition of public service to their country has been handed down from generation to generation. In addition, you see in the Kennedy family a firm bonding of all members of that family.

Melissa Gilbert, an actress who played little Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie said recently in a television interview that Little House on the Prairie was a success because something we all want is family, country, and perhaps a sense of community, a sense of belonging and being included. Family, community and tradition are three very important elements we need and have in our Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Family, according to the dictionary is a group of persons of common ancestry. In this parish, and in all our parishes in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, we are all part of the church family because we share in a common ancestry. We share the common beliefs of the teachings of Christ, and all of the rudiments of the orthodox worship, the prayers, the repetitiveness, the Holy Traditions handed down from generation to generation. We share in the Communion establishing and strengthening our relationship with Jesus Christ each time we participate in Communion. We share in the belief of the Nicene Creed, the hymns, the periods of reflection during Lenten times. We share in the life of the Church, the same dogmas and doctrine handed down from generation to generation for over 1000 years since we accepted the Orthodox faith in the Ukraine. Those dogmas and doctrines came to be when Apostle Andrew, a follower of Christ, visited Ukraine, and standing on the banks of the Dnipro River proclaimed that "here on this land will stand many churches." From that time, we have witnessed the passing on of a tradition and where in Canada we are still professing the faith of Orthodoxy, acknowledging the traditions, dogmas and doctrines associated with the Orthodox faith. Imagine that! How many other churches or faiths can claim that legacy, that kind of history, the lineage, the number of years.

Some people scoff at our traditions and say we are too traditional, that we put too much emphasis on tradition and not enough on the Bible. There are those who say we are not charismatic enough, that we are non-biblical, a culture club and that we are just concentrating on traditions; however, we are a biblical Faith; we are the most biblical Church around. All of the services, the Divine Liturgy, the prayers are direct quotes from the bible. There is nothing more charismatic than our Church. The senses of touch, smell, hearing, seeing and taste are all affected by the constant crossing of ourselves with our fingers, the incense, the hymns that are sung, the icon we revere and see, the prayers that we read from the Bible, and the Communion of bread and wine we receive. If that isn't charismatic I don't know what is!

The word "tradition" in English is a noun. In Ukrainian the word is in the active sense, a verb. We activate the tradition by handing down generation to generation the beliefs and doctrines of the Orthodox faith by saying to our children

and grandchildren," I tradition you" translated "Ya peredayoo". I am showing you, my child, the faith in an active way. The greatest gift we can give our children, (which has no price tag), is to pass on the tradition of our Orthodox Church in an active way and by example. We are living the tradition actively not simply just by talking about it.

There are people who as Orthodox Christians scoff at tradition suggesting or questioning our reason for not being like other religions, by shortening things or changing things to suit their personal pleasures and desires; however, the beauty of our Church and the faith allows us to continue to claim a very rich, historical and biblical way of life taught to us by our Church leaders, our bishops and priests, and handed down through them from the time of the apostles.

I laughed when I heard Madonna, a singer/actress in the United States who made the comment when her child was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church, that she disagrees with the dogma and rules but likes to celebrate the ceremony (the sacraments of the baptism)." That sounds a bit contradictory. What Madonna means by these words is that we live in a society of instant gratification and pleasure, a quick fix, like putting a frozen dinner in a microwave and obtaining instant results. However, faith and reaching salvation is a much longer process and what we do with our lives here on earth will determine the outcome in the life hereafter.

It reminds me of a story of how a Ukrainian priest received a phone call from a young couple planning to get married. They phoned the priest to meet with them about the upcoming marriage. He asked them if they were planning to become members of the Church. They replied that they had no such intention and that it was only that the parish church was such a beautiful structure in which to get married. There was no commitment on a long term but a quick gratification of a desire to be married in a beautiful church.

The term "community" is defined in the dictionary as " a body of people living in the same place under the same laws." Here in Melville, you as members of this community live and worship the Orthodox Faith, accepting the laws of the Church. You share a common bond of faith, and have done so for the past 75 years. We as Ukrainian Orthodox across Canada share with you a common bond as well, and share with you today the celebrations of today.

The Ukrainian Women's Association local plays an integral part in the life of this parish. As Ukrainian Orthodox women you devote yourselves, I'm sure, ten and and hundred fold to the life of this parish. In many instances over and over again across Canada the Women's Associations have given of themselves tirelessly for the Church and the work of God. I commend the Ukrainian Women's Associations who participate actively with great devotion to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It reminds me of the time when Christ was crucified and brought down from the cross. Who were the first people to come to his tomb to anoint his body? It was the women! Who ran away in fear? The men!

It is symbolic of how three myrrh-bearing women coming to see Christ in the tomb, only to find Him gone, that we see the activity of the Ukrainian Women's Association here in Melville as in other localities working for the Church and for God.

May He bless every one of you today.

At the parish level, the sense of community, family and tradition is very important to allow our young ones to receive the guidance and support they need. It is in the Church where much will be learned by our youth. It is important that the parish be a role model for our youth and even for our elder population.

We must encourage all members of the parish family and the parish community to become involved in the activities of the parish. We must provide opportunities for the younger members to involve themselves in all its aspects whether it be serving on the Church board, being an altar-server, singing in the choir, providing Bible study groups, supporting them to attend church conferences, sobors and youth meetings all centred around and focused on our Faith. There must be consistency and continued spiritual growth of the parishes to allow a continuum for all of our members to gain from an environment of spirituality. We cannot have hot and cold flashes of spiritual activities in our parishes. It has to be consistent and constant. Relevant here are the words spoken by Moses to his people in Deuteronomy 6(4-9):" Israel, remember this! The Lord-and the Lord alone is our God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength. Never forget these commands that I am giving you today. Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working. Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates."

As a parish family and community we have a duty and a commitment to provide spiritual activities and growth for our fellow parishioners of all ages so we may contribute to society as a whole to make it healthier and a better place to live. The Orthodox faith can contribute to society in this fashion. We as believer of this Orthodox faith can make a difference in our towns, cities, and nations. It only takes one individual to make a difference. The Orthodox are an important aspect of a community.

An aspect of Orthodoxy is "Orthokoinonia" which means true community living with special reference to the local parish and which could be applied to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as a whole. To quote Fr. Stanley Harakas from his book

Contemporary Moral Issues: "Truly blessed and happy is that Orthodox parish where the majority of the members put Christ first and at the Head of their parish life; where the most meaningful social event in the lives of the Christians takes place on Sunday mornings in the temple; where the main task of the parish is encouraging learning and service in the name of God; where there is very little conflict, jealousy, gossip and selfishness manifested among the members; where mutual concern, co-operativeness, humility, patience and interest in learning about the Faith are exhibited; and where, above all, love is chief. Such a parish is truly worthy of the title "Orthodox Christian Community".

Thank you for having me today, for inviting me here, and I wish you and your parish many years of health, prosperity, and spiritual growth. God Bless you all.

The above was a keynote address delivered June 27,1999 by Dbr. Karen Wasylenko to the St. Mary the Protectress UO Church of Melville and the Ukrainian Women's Association, Olha Kobylanska Branch, on the occasion