Pastoral visit of His Grace Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada

to the “Descent of the Holy Ghost” Parish from Windsor, ON

On the 34th Sunday after Pentecost, Sunday of Prodigal Son, His Grace Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, was present among the faithful of the “Descent of the Holy Ghost” Parish from Windsor, ON.

According to Romanian church tradition, the hierarch was greeted in the morning with bread and salt, and afterwards he officiated, together with Fr. Nicolae Codrea, the Holy and Devine Liturgy. In his sermon, His Grace stated: Here is the English translation of the passage:

“If, on the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, the Church urged us through the words of the Savior in the Holy Gospel to pray and speak truthfully with God, on the Sunday of the Return of the Prodigal Son, the Church invites us to sincere repentance, to return to ourselves, to return to the person we were before sin, to Adam and Eve status before the fall.

St. Apostle Paul, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, says: ‘Brothers, all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of anything. […] Or do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? […] Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?’ We know from the Holy Scriptures that God forbade Adam from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Through this commandment, God invites Adam not to partake in the temptation of choosing good or evil without God’s counsel, without prayer to God that would inspire him on what is right. For man to remain authentic, he must follow the way of God. The awareness of good and evil cannot be attained without God. Adam is not forced to obey God’s command, but by choosing whether to do so, he chooses life or death. God gives Adam the great gift of freedom, the possibility to choose, to want or not want to follow His Word. God gives him great freedom but also great responsibility. St. Paul says that all things are lawful for us, but not all are helpful. The words ‘but I will not be brought under the power of anything’ refer to temptations. Why should we not let ourselves be overcome by temptations? Because we are members of the Body of Christ, which is the Church, because we are united with Him in the Church through participation in the Holy Eucharist. Also, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. We are baptized, cleansed from sin, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Chrismation. Thus, we become temples of God. Therefore, we should not be overcome by temptations.”

The hierarch continued by explaining how the sinful state manifests and how powerful the repentance is: „An important aspect of the Gospel passage read today is the return to himself of the prodigal son. This means that when you are tempted and give in to temptation, it happens because you are no longer yourself, the person God created. You are no longer aware of who you are and make choices that are not right. You are somehow outside of your true self. When we repent, when we return to God, we come to ourselves, and we begin to realize who we are, why God created us, and what our purpose is in this world.”

The Romanian bishop of Canada then spoke of the hope that the power of forgiveness given by the Savior Christ offers: „At the return of the son, the joy of the father is greater than the anger caused by what he did. The father restores him to his previous state, as his son, heir to his possessions. However, this attitude causes the dissatisfaction of the older son, who feels wronged. In fact, this is about pride, which we often encounter in our lives in the Church. Sometimes we are proud that we are in the Church, that we are close to God, but we do not accept the one who, even if he has sinned, returns to God. This is exactly what today’s Gospel shows us. Every person who returns to God is well-received by Him. Let us remember the hope that the Gospel gives us, which speaks of the thief on the Cross: the first person who entered Paradise was not a man with a perfect life, but a thief who repented in the final moments of his life. This is the hope that God gives us through repentance. Even if we sin, even if our life is not spent under the best conditions for various reasons, the moment we return truly to God, He forgives our sins and gives us, once again, the opportunity to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

At the end, Fr. Nicolae Codrea thanked His Grace Ioan Casian for the love and attachment shown to the historic Romanian parish in Windsor. He also thanked Sister Ana, coordinator of the Teofania Church Store of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada, who was present at the parish celebration, as well as all those who were involved in organisation of the church event.

The visit of His Grace Ioan Casian, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Canada, to “Descent of the Holy Ghost” Parish, was occasioned by the organization of the traditional community meal before The Great Lent. Fraternal feasts have the role of strengthening the parish community around the church, as well as collecting the funds necessary for the parish's current activities.

Fr. Nicolae Codrea