Bishop Ioan Casian: Christian vocation means word and deed

On the day of the great Holy Martyr Demetrios, His Grace Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada celebrated the Holy Liturgy at the Episcopal Cathedral St. George and St. Epictetus and Astion from Saint Hubert, Quebec. Along with him was also present Protos. Maxim Morariu, the Cathedral Ecclesiarch.

In the sermon delivered at the end of the Holy Liturgy, the hierarch explained the meanings of this feast, dedicated to St. Demetrios, from the perspective of the second Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy, read in the service.

“In the pericope from the Epistle to Timothy, read today at the Holy Liturgy, St. Paul shows that our Christian vocation means word and deed. In the urging towards his disciple Timothy, the Apostle of the Gentiles tells him: 'Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus'. That is, everything that will have to be fulfilled from what he has seen in the Church, he will have to do so with the consciousness that everything happens a with the help of the Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, everything that happens in the Church, all the spiritual work that leads us to the kingdom of heaven is due to the presence of the grace of the Savior Jesus Christ."

Next, the hierarch showed how the Apostle of the Gentiles speaks of the missionary work done by word and deed: “Later St. Paul shows Timothy how to do the mission among the pagans at that time: 'And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.’ The mission to which we are called means to preach, to announce salvation in Christ, it means the grace of God given to us and our salvation.

The preaching is not limited only to the space of the Church, but wherever we find possible in society, and we can talk about God and its wonderful works, about the Holy Scriptures, about the social charity facts, etc. It is a suitable space for the mission. When we share the Word of God to others, we must do it trying to find people who will, in their turn, become in what they do and say, apostles of the Word of God.

The authenticity of the work of the Word of God in our lives is confessed by the presence of the facts that speak of His existence and presence: 'Suffers with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus'. In other words, St. Paul urges him to meet the difficulties, oppositions, sufferings because of the Word of God, as the Apostle himself lived, carried and suffered."

The Christian faith and its preaching cannot be prevented because it is a work of the Word of God through us: “Sf. Paul the Apostle says, ‘Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.’ Of these words we understand that the confession transmitted by the Apostle Paul is Jesus Christ who has risen from the dead. This message has universal value and cannot be limited because the word of preaching is the word of Christ the unlimited, which cannot be attached or contained. Even though the authorities have tried over time to limit the work of the Word of God by limiting how this was done, by closing or killing the people who announced Him, we see that this has failed to reach its goal. You can limit a man, you can restrain his work or action, even to can suppress his life, but you cannot prevent the spread of the Word of God.”

The instinct of faith exists in man, and we see it in the resistance that the confessors of faith have:

“In the soul of people, even in the persecuted, there is this faith, a spiritual feeling in the existence of God that goes beyond our human understanding and that speaks of the fact that we have a foundation above this world. We have the body of this world, but we have the soul that God gives us and the eternal life that awaits us, which has been promised and prepared by Christ the Savior through His resurrection. It is precisely this work of man, this hope and believe against the 'atheist evidence' of the surrounding society, denotes this divine seed present in the heart of man and the conviction that he is created by God.

The life of St. Demetrios confirms this: he suffers the martyr, he does not give up his beliefs either with the price of life, this being the proof of the fact that the life beyond begins with the one here. There is a continuity of eternal life which start from here. The soul that confesses by the 'stubbornness' of not giving up the Christian faith, speaks of this reality of eternal life.”

His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian showed the way the Church helps us to look at the world and reality around us with the eyes of God:

“Let us remember that the Church teaches us and reminds us every time: no matter what happens around it, the Church is the one that recites and reinterprets in the light of the Word of God in the Holy Scripture, the reality that surrounds us. First, it recalls and reminds the Word of God by reading in the religious services, but at the same time analyzes and radiographs all the events of today's world from the perspective of human purpose, that is to meet God and eternal life.

The two great coordinates of the confession of faith are the word and the deed. St. Paul says: ‘Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.' In other words, Paul the Apostle says that the truth of our faith is Jesus Christ who rose from the dead, for which He also suffers chains, being imprisoned at the time of writing this epistle. No matter how much the work is trying to limit it, it goes beyond everything. The truth of God's presence cannot be hidden or ignored endlessly.

We are chosen from eternity by God, who, as a good Architect, knows best, the way He thought, worked and operates. Man is the project of the Builder of this world. The Holy Scripture can be called a manual, through which we understand how the man was created, who is the Creator, where could be the possible accidents during this project, which is the best manner by which man can do his work as it is appropriate according to the seed God put in him.”

At the end, the hierarch of Canada blessed those present in the Church.

(notes by Nun Ana)