His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian was present

in St. John Casian and St. John Maximovici Parish of

in Oxford (UK)

Sunday, May 11, 2025 His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian served, with the blessing of His Eminence Atanasie, the new Romanian Orthodox Archbishop of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in St. John Casian and St. John Maximovici Parish in Oxford (UK).

The hierarch of Canada was welcomed in the morning by Protos. Gavriil Marin parish priest, Fr. Gabriel Hanganu, Fr. Dragoș Mihail Cazacu, Fr. Mihai Răzvan Novacovschi, deacon Andrei Constantin and by the members of the parish.

On behalf of the Romanian authorities, Her Excellency Laura Popescu, Ambassador of Romania to the United Kingdom, was present.

At the end of the Holy Liturgy, in the homily delivered, commenting on the texts from the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel according to St John the Evangelist, the hierarch emphasized that everything that is accomplished in the Church is done through the work of God's grace:

“In the two biblical texts read today we see the accomplishment of three miracles. Two are accomplished by St. Apostle Peter – the healing of the paralytic Aeneas in Lydda and the resurrection of Tabitha in Joppa. The third miracle is the one accomplished by the Savior Jesus Christ who heals the paralytic man at the pool of Bethesda.

There is a difference in the way these miracles are accomplished. In those accomplished by St. Apostle Peter, we notice that they come from the awareness of the presence of Christ's healing power in the work of the Apostle or from the fruit of prayer to God. In the case of that accomplished by Jesus, this is accomplished directly by His command. What does this difference indicate to us? That the Apostles know that their work and therefore that of the Church is done through the power of saving grace of Christ. In the Church, the priesthood of Christ is at work. The fulfillment of the Holy Mysteries, of the various blessings and the sanctifying work of the Church performed by its servants – bishops, priests or deacons – is done through participation in the sanctifying and saving priesthood of Christ. It is the foundation of the work of the Church, the renewal and salvation of man.”

Continuing to speak about the healing of the paralytic man at the Bethesda, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian said:

“The healing of human person is based on the commandment of God and work of divine grace. But in redemption and healing of man, human freedom is also necessary. God cannot intervene where there is a lack of openness or resistance on the part of man. God respects human freedom in a special way because it reflects the freedom of God in the life of man. Man cannot truly have a fully mature spiritual life without the presence of freedom in his life.

Man learns to be free by listening to the word of God and cooperating with His grace on his path to liberation from passions and the limitations imposed by sin.

The sick man at the pool of Bethesda is concerned with earthly weaknesses, due to his illness and the lack of love of those around him who do not pay attention to him or do not help him at the moment when he needs it most to regain his health. But Christ knows this and therefore heals him directly. We understand from this that we must never lose hope in God's help. Even if we see that we do not receive much help from those around us in the case of our weaknesses or difficulties, we must have hope because Christ is present in our lives and will show Himself at the right time to heal us.”

The hierarch continued by recalling the role of sin in the sufferings present in our lives:

“The word of Jesus Christ addressed to the paralytic man after his healing ‘Behold, your health was restored. From now on, sin no more, so that nothing worse may happen to you’ shows us that one of the reasons for suffering and weakness in our lives is the presence of sin in what we do. The words of Jesus are a reminder and call to a life of holiness, to participate in the renewing and saving work of Christ. The words of Christ are a call to relive our Christian life in the image and likeness of God. Sin does nothing but divert and limit our life in a way that is inappropriate to its fundamental vocation of deification.

Today’s society, like that of the past, offers us different social, spiritual, philosophical or cultural models. We as Christians have the model of life of Jesus Christ the Savior, of the saints, the model that Holy Scripture proposes to us. These can help us navigate among the various ideologies present in our world in such a way that we live our lives according to the model offered by Christ and his saints and presented in Holy Scripture. Considering the values ​​and examples that are presented to us in the Bible and the lives of the saints, we can grow and discern the choices that we must make in our lives in such a way that it reflects the plan that God prepared for man from creation. In this way, our lives can be transfigured together with the entire society.”

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, Protos. Gavriil Marin thanked the hierarch, the Romanian ambassador and those present for their participation and invited everyone to the fraternal agape.

In the second part of the day, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian and Protos. Gavriil Marin visited some of the significant places of Oxford, a prestigious university city. The two went and said a short prayer at the tomb of Bishop Kallistos Ware, one of the great Orthodox theologians of the modern era, former professor of theology at Oxford.

Towards the end of the day, the two, together with Fr. Gabriel Hanganu and Fr. Mihai Răzvan Novacovschi, spent some time together talking about the mission in the diaspora, about its specificity and needs, and about the challenges of contemporary society from both a social and cultural point of view.