The role of faith and confession in the Christian life; the divinity of Jesus Christ

On July 16th and 17th HG Bishop Ioan Casian was present in the parish of St. Paraskiva and St. Elijah in Newmarket, Ontario on the occasion of the feast day.

On Saturday evening, the Sacrament of the Holy Unction was performed. Alongside Bishop Ioan Casian participated Archpriest Viorel Țencaliuc, Rev. Fr. Petre Busuioc, Rev. Fr. Lucian Azoiței, Rev. Fr. Emanuel Ionuț Țencaliuc, hieromonk Polycarp and Rev. Fr.  Mihai Cristea parish priest.

At the end of the service the hierarch said:

"Here we are on the eve of the feast of St. Prophet Elijah, one of the protectors of your parish. He is one of the best known and most beloved men of God who lived in the Old Testament period and who was also assumed in the Christian tradition. He is the embodiment of what St. Paul speaks of in the epistle of the day - a man of faith and confession. He is a man who does not shy away from confessing before the people the true God, as in the case of confessing before the priests of Baal and the people. He is also a man of faith because this courage comes precisely from his faith and the experience of meeting and experiencing God in his life. In moments of doubt, he goes to Mount Horeb where he contemplates God, reiterating the spiritual experience of Moses, thus being strengthened in his prophetic vocation and in the conviction that he is the one who continues the true worship tradition of ancient Israel.

St. Prophet Elijah appears with the Savior Jesus Christ at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor together with Moses. This signifies that Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law. In Christ all the prophecies and preparations made by God in the Old Testament are fulfilled."

On Sunday the Divine Liturgy was celebrated

"The miracle of the healing of the demonized in Gadara - said the hierarch - happens after another of the calming of the storm on Lake Tiberias. Already those present were wondering about Jesus: who is this to whom the winds and waves listen? From that miracle, the contemporaries of Christ the Redeemer understand that He is master over the visible material elements. The miracle of the healing of the demonized shows that Christ has power not only over the visible world but also over the invisible, over the heavenly powers, over the demons. Christ casting out demons shows that he has divine power. Under His authority are the world seen and the world unseen. He is the true God.”

HG Bishop Ioan Casian awarded Rev. Fr. Mihai Cristea in recognition of his entire pastoral and scholarly activity with a pectoral cross.

The celebration ended with a fraternal agape.