The Cross – Sign of Christ’s Sacrifice and of the Hope of Our Salvation

On the Sunday after the Elevation of the Holy Cross, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian served among the faithful at St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Montréal, on the 40-day memorial service for the ever-remembered Archpriest George Chișcă, who was parish priest of this Cathedral for 52 years. Among the concelebrating clergy were: Fr. Mircea Panciuk, Fr. Traian Petre Constantin, and Fr. George Drăgan.

In his homily at the end of the Divine Liturgy, the hierarch reminded the faithful of the meanings of the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross:

“The Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross has two meanings. On one hand, it reminds us of the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ for our salvation. On the other hand, it refers to the historical discovery of the Wood of the Holy Cross, when Saint Empress Helena, the mother of Saint Emperor Constantine, found a piece of the cross on which Christ was crucified.”

The bishop further emphasized the profound logic behind the Gospel readings set for this period:

“The Sunday before the Elevation of the Holy Cross presents part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus about the need for salvation and how this salvation is the work of Christ, the Son of God, who came down from heaven out of the love of God the Father. The Gospel of the feast itself speaks about the crucifixion of the Lord. The Gospel of the Sunday after the Elevation of the Holy Cross refers to what we must do in response to Christ’s sacrifice.

Because, once Christ died on the Cross, rose again, ascended into Heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit, He gave us the means by which we can once again have access to the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why today’s Epistle and Gospel no longer refer directly to the sacrifice of the Savior but to our personal and communal response. The key that opens the path to the Kingdom of Heaven is faith.

Saint Paul makes it clear: nothing can be done without faith. Through faith, a person can correct a life that has been separated from God - a life enslaved by sin. The lack of faith brings violence, injustice, addiction, corruption, and all the other sins we see even today, though they may sometimes appear more subtly.

True faith, however, is not simply a declaration, a one-time statement of 'I am saved.' Salvation is Christ’s work, but it enters our lives only if we open our hearts and minds to the work of divine grace through faith. Then it begins to work in us and transform us. This is saving faith: the kind that makes room for the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.”

Speaking about faith, the Bishop of Canada highlighted that faith is both the key to salvation and a way to spiritually assess the state of our soul:

“True faith places us before our own existential reality. The grace of God reveals what we would never suspect about ourselves: stubbornness, hidden sins, weaknesses, or deep fears. This is like a spiritual X-ray that exposes the ‘cancer’ of sin, the ‘fractures’ of the soul, the unhealed wounds. It is not an easy exercise. It requires courage, time, and especially humility.

True faith requires the effort of looking into the mirror of our soul and, more than that, into the mirror of our expected holiness, which is the icon. By looking at the icon of our patron saint, we can understand how much of our life resembles the image of Christ and how much departs from it.

It is a difficult journey, but without this exercise, there is no personal or communal spiritual renewal. That is why, even when we discover sins and weaknesses in our lives or in our Christian communities, these do not show Christ’s powerlessness but our human fragility. Christ remains the source of power and salvation; we are the ones called to be transformed, through faith, by His work.”

Additionally, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian emphasized the three steps of Christian life, based on the Gospel of the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross:

“If the Gospel of the feast speaks about the sacrifice of the Savior, and the one before it prepares us to understand this event, the Gospel after the feast teaches us what we must do to follow Christ. ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me’ (Mark 8:34).

These are the three steps of the Christian life: (1) self-denial – letting go of old habits and everything that is not in line with life in Christ; (2) taking up the cross – crucifying our own will and acquiring virtues through a daily, difficult, but transformative struggle; (3) following Christ – being willing to respond to God’s call, whether as apostles, prophets, hierarchs, monastics, or simple believers.

This year, which is commemorative, the Romanian Patriarchate canonized 16 holy men – martyrs and confessors from the communist period – and another 16 women who suffered in prisons or lived as mothers, nuns, or simple believers. They are a great encouragement for us, showing that holiness is not a distant reality, but a living and contemporary one.

Therefore, every founding of a parish or monastery, or every conversion of a soul, is a sign of God’s work. We do not convince through ourselves, but through the grace of Christ. Yet our testimony matters: a word, a charitable gesture, a deed of love can be a moment of return to God.”

At the end of his address, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian spoke about several aspects of Fr. George Chișcă’s personality and ministry:

“Today we also served the 40-day memorial for Father George, a great Romanian, patriot, and faithful servant, thanks to whom we have this church. We pray for the rest of his soul. May his grave remain a place of blessing and gratitude for all who knew him.”

At the end, those present received the blessing and participated in the memorial meal (agape) prepared for the occasion.

(contribution Nun Ana Bulgariu)