HG Bishop Ioan Casian in the Cathedral of Iași:

Let's take care of our neighbor! He is the image and likeness of God!

On the Sunday of the Dreadful Judgment, HG Bishop Ioan Casian was present at the Divine Liturgy in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Iași. In the homily delivered after the reading of the pericope of the Holy Gospel, the hierarch spoke about the significance of the Triodion period as a spiritual journey or pilgrimage to the Resurrection of the Lord in several stages: the preparatory period for the entry into Great Lent (Sunday of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee – Sunday of the Expulsion of Adam from Paradise), the period of Great Lent (Monday of the first week of Great Lent - Palm Sunday) and Holy Week (of Passion / Monday - Holy Saturday).

Referring to this Sunday, the hierarch said: "The Sunday of the Dreadful Judgment draws our attention to the fact that the sin against the neighbor is a sin against God and the sin against God is a sin against our neighbor. If we sin against our neighbor, we sin against the one who bears the image of God in him. The commandment to love God and neighbor is the reason we need this particular attention in our two-way relationships. An inauthentic relationship with God has as a consequence an inappropriate relationship with the neighbor."

"As you did (or did not do) to one of these least of mine you did to Me (you did not do to Me). Here is the connection between our concrete work directed towards the neighbor and its relationship with God. They are not separated. By trying to follow in concrete life the deeds that Christ accomplished we become His disciples by likening to Him through faith and works. Our faith in God is manifested, becomes visible, through deeds. If we don't see it reflected in facts, we can't prove its real existence either."

The hierarch further explained the fundamental reason why we need good deeds in our lives: "What must we do in this life to save ourselves? Here, on the third Sunday of the Triodion, we have the concrete answer: to take care of our neighbor. Why this? Because each of us, from this country, from this world, is the image of God, is our neighbor, so we have the duty to take care of him."

Acquiring the likeness of God implies the performance of the work that brings us to the threshold of its realization which is done through the fulfillment of good deeds:

"If we say that each of us is the image of God, during our life all these deeds that were named by the Savior - to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to receive the stranger, to take care of the sick, to visit the one in prison - must be part of the dynamic of the concrete life that will actualize the likeness of God in the course of our life."

This work of good deeds has been done by all generations of saints throughout time. They did nothing but strengthened themselves in the faith of salvation through Christ and performed the good deeds that reflect this saving faith in the concrete life. These are part of the way of being or the ethos of church life.

"Here's how we can respond in such a way that we also position ourselves as sheep at the right hand of the Savior to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In this way, responding with our good deeds, we become more and more like the Savior Christ, the Holy Apostles, the saints in general because they are the ones who did what their Teacher, Jesus Christ, who healed, resurrected, comforted through His words, did. But first of all, He saved us all in His person and above all He gave us the Holy Spirit so that this mystery of salvation can happen in the Church".

"In concrete life we see the difficulties we face, the weaknesses and passions in us that represent the inertia of the consequences of sin in us. Fasting helps us fight against them.”

At the end of the service, the hierarch blessed those present in the cathedral.

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Photo: Flavius Popa / Doxologia.ro