† IOAN CASIAN
by the grace of God
Bishop of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada
To the beloved Clergy and Christian worshipers,
peace and joy from Christ the Lord, and from us pastoral blessing.
Reverend Fathers,
Beloved faithful,
The Apostle of the nations says: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle - I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying - a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth” (1 Timothy 2, 5-7).
The beginning of the ecclesiastical year, September 1st, is an occasion for renewal and blessing. in the spirit of what St. Paul said to his disciple Timothy. There is a renewal and blessing that comes from the one God through His Son Jesus Christ who is the Mediator. God the Father sent the Son to become man in order for man to be deified according to the grace. The beginning of the ecclesiastical year gives us an opportunity to strengthen and reaffirm our understanding of the central role of the Savior Jesus Christ in our human history. The beginning of the ecclesiastical year is an important occasion to emphasize the Christological character of our path to salvation and to the kingdom of heaven.
But this Christian path passes through the reality of earthly life with its concrete and immediate material elements. The Christian cannot seriously think of the incarnation of the Son of God without really considering creation in its concrete dimension. Christ became incarnate and assumed our limited and passionate condition for restauration, purification, transfiguration, and salvation. There is an ontological continuity between our earthly and eternal life. We will be transfigured into the image of the Savior Jesus Christ, but we retain the identity we received at birth and was restored at Baptism. Our earthly life is an opportunity to fulfill God's words in everyone's life.
“And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me, to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord’” (Luke 4, 17-19). The Savior, even though He came to speak of eternal life, shows us that it has its roots deeply plunged in the concrete earthly life. The earthly life in its spiritual dimension is a prophetic image of future goodness. It shows the signs of eternity in time. The announcement of the future good for the poor, the relief of the wounded and troubled in their heart, the deliverance of those who are unjustly treated considering them as having an inferior status from a human point of view, the healing of physical infirmities and other weaknesses and passions of our human nature, and the correction of social injustices are part of this prophetic presence and work of God among us. All this progressively turn our regard, attention and life to God.
We are in the Homage Year of the Pastoral Care of Parents and Children and in the Commemorative Year of the Romanian Orthodox Philanthropists. The two themes speak of two important elements for us as a Church: the first - about how we will be able to encourage and strengthen through word and deed the basis of the family in the sense of its founding by God and the relationship between its members in the Spirit of God; the second - about how the example of our various forerunners can inspire us to show Christian generosity to those in need. The two themes allow us to meditate on how Christ can become a model and inspiration for both parents and children in the daily life.
The Christian life must become a concrete expression of our deep vocation as God's beings. And the new ecclesiastical year strengthens us in the belief that in this inner path we are not alone. God the Father is with us through the Son and His Spirit as two hands kneading the dough of human nature in order for it to receive the salvation.
Let us dare to put our hope at the beginning of this new ecclesiastical year in the mediating action of the Son of God and open our hearts by faith to the Holy Spirit in order to be guided and helped to grow spiritually in family and in society.
With joy and love in the Lord Jesus Christ,
† Ioan Casian
The Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada
Saint-Hubert, September 1st, 2020
