A beginning of a New Year in the Spirit of the Church, of the Holy Scriptures
and of the Holy Fathers
The beginning of a civil year, like any beginning, is a time of reflection, of hope for the future, of decision and of the will to fulfill as much as possible what we set out to do. It comes after a natural conclusion of the accomplishments or failures of the past year.
Certainly the year 2020 was an unexpected one in terms of evolution, full of surprises and unpredictable. He has brought and still brings suffering, insecurity even now. It can seem confusing and disconcerting.
However, we can acquire further spiritual strengthening from two important elements: the moment of Jesus' presence in the Temple at the age of twelve, narrated in the Gospel of the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the commemoration of St. Basil the Great.
In the Lord's Gospel, one reads: “So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.’ And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’” (Luke 2: 48-49). We find the Savior Christ here at the age of twelve present in the temple in Jerusalem and staying in his place and home; at least the man-made house that cannot contain Him but is the place reminds the one who built it of the Creator. More comprehensive is the universe as God’s temple.
The evangelical text reminds us that our natural place as Christians, and as people in general, is the holy place of the Church. Just as the young Jesus reminds us that his natural place is abiding in the work of the Father through obedience as a Son and collaborating with Him, so let us remember that we are sons of God by grace who are called to remain in obedience to God and in synergistic work with Him through faith and grace. The Church is the place, the temple of God in which we remain in the providential work of the Father through the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Sacraments and the sanctifying religious services, through prayers and ascetic effort, through reading and almsgiving, etc. It is all the virtues that we always hear mentioned in Holy Scripture that make up the weapons we arm ourselves with every time we go into our spiritual battle.
Our time here is a space of striving for our salvation. Although short, it is of inestimable value because, depending on its quality, we receive eternal life. Let us abide in the sanctuary and in the work of God as Jesus by word and deed. Only in this way can we always hear the two commandments that summarize the Law and the prophets and without which there can be no Christian life: “‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12: 30-31).
“‘All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable’ (2 Timothy 3:16). That is why it was written by the Holy Spirit for all people, so that each of us may take from it, as from a public hospital of souls, the healing for our own illness. That the Scripture says ‘Healing will put an end to great sins’” (Ecclesiastes 10: 4) says St. Basil the Great, quoting the words of the Holy Scriptures. The great Cappadocian invites us at the beginning of the year to have the right compass and the true inspiration in decision-making as we confess through the word that we are Christians. If we consider ourselves to follow the exhortation of St. Paul: “...we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ” (Ephesians 4: 14-15). Let the foundation of all our words and deeds be the word of God as it was at the creation of the world. This word is the medicine that cures disease and leads us to the path of eternity and holiness. This is what St. Basil the Great tells us.
The year 2021 is the Homage Year of the Pastoral Care of Romanians abroad and the Commemorative Year of those fallen asleep in the Lord; the liturgical and cultural value of cemeteries. It is important to think about how we can continue, preach, transmit and strengthen the Christian-Orthodox faith wherever we are. The Church as a whole - clergy and faithful - are called to this work with time and without time. Let us also think of those who have trespassed and who have entrusted to us their accomplishments in order to carry them forward. It is a responsibility we have as a generation of the present.
I wish you at this beginning of the new year 2021 the salutation La mulți ani! joy, health, inspiration and blessing from God,
† Ioan Casian
Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada
Saint-Hubert, January 1, 2021
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[Photo: Basilica.ro]