Both Lungs

by Brent Kostyniuk It goes without saying that language is central to any society. It allows the members of that society to exchange thoughts and ideas and, in turn, prosper. While the language of a particular society may not be totally unique, it will have developed individual characteristics. Often this takes the form of slang, understood only by members of the society. For example, during the Second World War, Royal Air Force pilots referred to the aeroplanes as “kites.” In other cases, a society will have developed specific meanings for otherwise common words or have invented words unique to itself.…

by Brent Kostyniuk “Wow!” That was the reaction of a friend of mine when she first stepped into a Ukrainian Catholic church. Although a life-long Catholic, and, indeed, a religion teacher in our city’s Catholic school system, this was her first encounter with the Byzantine tradition. She had not yet heeded St. John Paul II’s admonition that the Church should breathe through Both Lungs – East and West. Moreover, he proclaimed it was the duty of Catholics of the West, that is Roman Catholics, to learn about their Eastern brethren. “It’s so big inside!” Her eyes were drawn upwards to…

by Brent Kostyniuk If you drive along the Yellowhead Highway between Edmonton and Winnipeg, you will be passing through the Borsch Belt—a vast region of fertile prairie favoured by Ukrainian homesteaders in the last years of the19th century and the early decades of the 20th century—a lasting legacy of those pioneers are the churches they built, with their distinctive domes. I was introduced to domes as a young boy when, once a year, my father would take me to what he called his “home parish,” the church he had attended growing while up on the family farm. At that time,…

by Brent Kostyniuk Ukrainians have a deep devotion and love for the Mother of God. In fact, along with other Byzantine traditions, they have a unique title for her – Theotokos. The term Theotokos is a compound of two Greek words: Θεός (Theo) meaning God, and τόκος (tokos) meaning childbirth or offspring. A literal translation would be “God-bearing one” although a customary English translation is “Mother of God.” The use of the term Theotokos is very ancient. As early as the third century, Christians were turning to the Theotokos as evidenced in this Coptic prayer of that time: “Under your…

by Brent Kostyniuk It is said the most popular theme for songs is love. That is probably true. All You Need is Love, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Bye Bye Love, and of course, Muskrat Love (go ahead, Google it!). The same goes for movies. What would Christmas be without watching Love Actually? Love is central to our lives. I love my wife, I love my children, and I especially love nachos and salsa. I also love my daughter’s cat, but only sometimes. So, it seems love is a universal theme. Yet, what does the theme of a pop song…

by Brent Kostyniuk At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:1-3). How often have we heard these words and tried to apply them to ourselves, to our own lives? We can understand Jesus’ message that we need to have the unconditional trust and faith of children in accepting His teaching.…