Metropolitan Borys Celebrates Sunday of the Paralytic with Ukrainian Faithful in Rome

In his homily on the Sunday of the Paralytic, the Metropolitan focused on the Gospel miracle of the healing of the man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. He emphasized that this physical healing is a sign that invites us to reflect on spiritual healing — the gift of eternal life offered by Christ through His Resurrection. He called on all to become healers — to overcome divisions, to unite, and to reconcile.

Given that the majority of the parishioners in the church are women who had come to Italy as migrant workers, the Metropolitan also referred to the previous Sunday — dedicated to the Myrrh-bearing Women — and stressed the importance of bringing peace.

"During this Liturgy, we experience what is in the Kingdom of God. Here there is the peace of the Kingdom, the peace of hope in the Resurrection, and we can set aside the sorrows of daily life. Everything is in its place. Before us is the certainty of God’s love," the preacher noted.

Addressing the faithful, the Metropolitan invited them to bring healing to their relationships after the Liturgy — to call those they had argued with or grown distant from.
"We are called to be healers and to bring peace," he emphasized.

He also recalled his studies in Rome in the early 1980s, when he was in the circle of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj and served with him at Liturgies in this very church.
"The Church of Sergius and Bacchus is the oldest building outside Ukraine that has belonged to Ukrainians for 400 years. When I was here, there were only about 300 Ukrainians in all of Italy, and our Church in Ukraine was banned. The Lord, with His mighty hand, led us out of the house of bondage. We have witnessed His miracles and therefore have no right not to believe," he said.

At the end of the Liturgy, Metropolitan Borys expressed his gratitude for the hospitality and the shared prayer.