Feast of Sts. Three Hierarchs at Richmond Hill Parish
January 30th 2022
On Sunday dedicated to the Holy Three Hierarchs and Orthodox Theology January 30, 2022 His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian was with the faithful of St. Dumitru Parish and the Holy Three Hierarchs of Richmond Hill, ON.
It was a great joy for all those present to be there and pray together, after a long period in which health restrictions limited interactions.
At this moment of celebration and joy, the parishioners of Richmond Hill, the clergy and the people, were able to see each other again and the patrons saints of the parish were celebrated as they should be.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, in his sermon, HG Bishop Ioan Casian said about the Holy Three Hierarchs: “We honor these great saints in our Orthodox tradition because each of them has the specific and individual work, but together they make up the whole of what it means to live, to think and to do as Christian Orthodox in the Church,.
If we stop for a moment and reflect on this Sunday's pericope, now near the beginning of the Triodion, the Church puts ahead us the encounter of Zacchaeus on the road of Jericho with the Savior. Christ calls and speaks to this fallen man, but of whom the Savior knows that he was a man with a desire for correction, aware of his mistakes.
This is the Savior's extraordinary gesture, the call addressed to this man who had done injustice to his contemporaries, but who knew that God had a plan for his salvation.
The miracle that happens to the man who truly meets God in his heart is that of return. Man humbles himself, sees what he has done unjustly, makes room for Christ in his life, begins to do good deeds. This is the miracle that is happening to all of us.”
Referring to the celebrated saints, protectors of the parish, the hierarch said:
“The Three Hierarchs represent in summary our theology, endowed with the wisdom and sharpness of the mind but at the same time very knowledgeable in the practical part, of making good deeds. There is no Christian life or genuine thought without deeds. In fact, their example of witnessing strengthens and shapes us Christians.
Now, at the beginning of the year 2022, may God strengthen and enlighten us, and may the teachings and models left by these saints be our support and help so that we may honorably bear the name of Christians in this secularized and tried world, in which there are many things that are inconsistent with our Christian values” concluded the Romanian hierarch of Canada.
