Love, serve, be vulnerable -- and dream big, archbishop tells law graduates

By Gina Christian, OSV News

(OSV News) -- A willingness to love and to be vulnerable is "the most important pedagogical question a student can be faced with," Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia, told newly minted graduates of a Catholic law school.

The archbishop shared his thoughts as the commencement speaker for Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida. During the May 13 graduation exercises, Archbishop Gudziak -- a scholar of Byzantine and Slavic cultural history, as well as the head of external relations for the worldwide Ukrainian Catholic Church -- received an honorary doctorate from the school.

Quoting a favorite Greek phrase of his mentor, Ukrainian Catholic Cardinal and Major Archbishop Josyf Slipyj, the archbishop urged graduates to "megala aitesthe," or "dream big," while having the courage to "start small."

Cardinal Slipyj had done both by founding what is now Ukrainian Catholic University almost immediately after his 1963 release from an 18-year term in a Soviet gulag, said the archbishop. From its "microscopic" roots in Rome, where Archbishop Gudziak studied under the cardinal with less than a dozen fellow students, UCU was ultimately fully established in Lviv, Ukraine, with Archbishop Gudziak serving first as rector and then as president since 2013.

Archbishop Gudziak said that though still relatively small, UCU is "setting standards in Ukraine" while above all "(seeking) to prophetically witness (to) Catholic principles and values in a land painfully recovering from generations of totalitarian atheistic tyranny and enduring a brutal, decade-long Russian invasion."

Through its two pillars, "the martyrs and the marginalized," the UCU embodies essential teachings of the Catholic faith, said the archbishop.

"UCU was built upon the legacy of Catholic martyrs in Ukraine, who died in the Soviet gulags or German concentration camps," he said, adding that "Tertullian's adage from 197 A.D. remains true today: 'The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.' The sacrifice of the catacomb Christians, their faithfulness to the Good News endowed the church with singular moral authority in society after the fall of the USSR."

As Ukraine counters a brutal full-scale invasion by Russia -- which continues attacks launched in 2014 with the attempted annexation of Crimea, and the backing of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions -- "an analogous sacrifice" can be seen, as "tens of thousands have given their lives for principles, dignity, and truth," said Archbishop Gudziak.

An "appreciation for the role the marginalized play in life" also is central to UCU, he said, with "arguably the most marginalized" being "people with mental disabilities," who are generally "absent from universities."

Integrated into UCC campus life, persons with mental disabilities provide a moral and spiritual compass by "deep from the heart ... (posing) one basic question: 'Can you love me?'" said the archbishop.

"I hope that during your years here you had opportunities to ask and be asked that question," said Archbishop Gudziak. "I hope it stays with you for the rest of your life -- are you willing to love? To be vulnerable? To be wounded because you love? Like our Blessed Mother was."

Called "to know who you are" as "the brothers and sisters of Jesus, under the motherhood of Mary, beloved daughters and sons of God," the graduates were now "being sent" to serve, he said.

The U.S. "needs legal experts who understand the deep philosophical underpinnings of all that is good in the American experiment, and all that needs improvement," he said. "The unborn, the poor, the discriminated, the marginalized so await your service, your advocacy, their justice that you defend."

The church as well needs "competent, faithful Catholics who are willing to work for the church as dedicated laypeople in responsible positions," said Archbishop Gudziak.

He cited two young lawyers in Ukraine who amid the war left lucrative positions at large firms to serve their nation -- one by providing legal and humanitarian aid to the vulnerable, and the other by serving in the Ukrainian army near Bakhmut, scene of some of the bloodiest battles in the war.

"In our world, where everything seems transactional and negotiable, where everything is a matter of subjective, individualistic opinion, Ukrainians are witnessing to the fact that there are eternal values," said the archbishop.

"Dream big! Do not be afraid of greatness!" he said. "Our greatness manifests itself in our selfless service, (and) in following Jesus and Mary."