During the past summer months, whilst beginning studies in Canon Law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the best deal I got on a guest room was at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Seminary.
Several Ukrainian Catholic priests attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary during their formation, including my classmate Father Bohdan Vasyliv, who now serves in Shenandoah.
Already having this “in,” I have been welcomed by the community there to experience aspects of Ukrainian culture and the Byzantine Catholic tradition. I have even had the privilege to concelebrate the Divine Liturgy several times. The top-story patio of the Ukrainian Seminary was an excellent place to look out over Washington on the Fourth of July.
However, despite my evidently Slavic name and bearded face, I am a bit of an outsider. Most of the people I have met at St. Josaphat speak Ukrainian and grew up Byzantine Catholic. My family lineage comes from Austro-Hungarian portions of Ukraine and possibly Poland, Russia, Ireland, and even Cuba.
I was “bone ‘n’ bread” in the American South before making my way to Pennsylvania. Frankly, it’s hard to claim any specific ethnic or regional heritage as “mine.” What is mine, however, is something much better than culture, custom, or heritage.
My truest homeland is Heaven, and my identity is a follower of Christ. As a Christian, I share a brotherhood beyond borders or language. That is, after all, why we are called Catholic: our Church is Universal. When we receive the Holy Eucharist, we share Communion with the whole Body of Christ.
St. Paul impresses on us this reality of unity. In Christ, we are no longer divided, but “One in Christ” and united children of the Father. The importance of this reality, this mystery, cannot be overstated.
If we are “one bread, one body,” why do we so often fail to act like it? History is marred by wars and persecutions, injustices and crimes not merely of pagans, but of Christians against each other.
Imagine instead a world in which Russian Christians recognized their communion with Ukrainian Christians; where English Christians and Irish Christians treated each other with brotherly love; where American Christians honored our fellowship with any of our neighbors, etc. What a world that would be.
Pope Leo XIV quickly made “unity” a theme of his pontificate. We should all be eager to reflect that virtue with our lives. Even while we possess ethnic heritages and maintain national identities, we should never let those things overrule our identity as Christians first and foremost. In that, we experience true unity and peace.
I am privileged to be an American. I am proud to have ancestors from many different places. I am grateful for the rich histories and traditions I get to receive and share in. But above all else, I am honored to know my rightful place is in Heaven as a member of the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ.
By Father Nikolai Brelinsky, Chaplain of Allentown Central Catholic High School; part-time Graduate Studies, School of Canon Law, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.; Auditor, Diocesan Tribunal; and in residence at St. Joseph the Worker, Orefield. Read more articles by Father Brelinsky at https://frnrb.substack.com/.
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