His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian: The Church is a Living Experience

of the Permanent Presence of God's Word

On the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian served the Divine Liturgy amid the faithful at the parish of St. Stephen the Great and St. Nektarios, Oshawa, Ontario, on the occasion of the celebration of one of its patron saints.

Among the concelebrating clergy were Father Petrică Busuioc, administrative vicar and parish priest, and Fr. Ion Bucur from Sibiu, a retired priest who served formerly at Lainici Monastery.

In the sermon delivered at the end of the Divine Liturgy, the hierarch highlighted several key aspects of the Gospel reading:

"Today’s Gospel speaks of healing. The events recounted show us the role and the way God works within the Church and how this mission continues through the ages.

The miracle takes place in Capernaum. A Roman centurion (a pagan) asks the Savior to heal his servant. Jesus responds spontaneously, saying He will come and heal him. From the centurion’s dialogue with Christ, we see his great humility, faith, and respect for God: ‘Lord, I am not worthy that You come under my roof.’ He knows he is sinful and unworthy of Christ’s presence in his home, but he believes that through Christ’s word alone, his servant can be healed.

Jesus recognizes this and declares that He has not found such faith even in Israel. From Luke’s version of this Gospel passage, we also learn an important detail about the centurion: he helped build the synagogue — showing that he was a man of action. The power of healing comes from the grace of God, to which are added the necessity of faith and humility, as well as their expression through deeds. This is exactly what the centurion demonstrates.

Christ’s healing work continues in the Church. The Church continually prays for the sick and the suffering.

The centurion is an example for all of us. The faithful are invited, by his example, to care for those in distress, to pray to God for them, to encourage those who are ill.

In the Church, the healing ministry of the Savior continues through the Holy Spirit, thanks to the prayers offered by the faithful for those who are sick and suffering, both physically and spiritually.

The Church is a living experience of the permanent presence of the Word of God and a continuous invitation to follow this Word, for it is the Word that heals. The Church cannot distance itself from what Christ has done and taught, otherwise it would become merely a community united by a cause — but not by Christ as a real, though mystical, active, and transfiguring presence.

Today’s Gospel also reveals the missionary work of the Church among the pagans as was the case with the centurion."

The celebration concluded with a traditional festive meal organized by Presbytera Alina Busuioc together with the Ladies’ Committee of the parish, to which all those presents were invited. During the meal, the Sunday School children delighted the attendees with hymns dedicated to the parish’s two patron saints — St. Stephen the Great and St. Nektarios of Aegina — and to the Mother of God.

(notes by Nun Ana)

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