HG Bishop Ioan Casian: The world and all those things belonging to man are a gift of God in which man participates synergistically but they must not be obstacles to encountering God.

Sunday, December 15, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian was present in the midst of the faithful of the Eparchial Cathedral. Together with the hierarch were serving the Divine Liturgy Fr. Daniel Sandu, Fr. Radu Trifon and Fr. Adrian Manea.

In the sermon addressed to the faithful present at the Divine Liturgy the bishop said:

The parable we read today speaks about the man who organizes a dinner and invites his guests to take part with him. But the guests who were to come find each one an excuse for refusing communion with him. The arguments given are those of the property (the land), the means of maintenance (the cattle) and the family (the marriage). Eventually, the one who organizes the dinner will invite the poor, humble, blind and lame people to take part in the dinner. St. Cyril of Alexandria says that he who invites is God the Father and the servant who goes to proclaim and call for dinner is Christ, the Son of God. So, the dinner is a messianic and eschatological one which for us Christians represents the Divine Liturgy.

However, one might ask: is there not a contradiction between this parable and the commandment of God in the book of Genesis: ‘And God blessed them, saying, grow and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it; and rule ... all over the earth’ (Genesis 1:28).

There is certainly no contradiction between the two examples. The world and all those things belonging to man are a gift of God in which man participates synergistically but they must not be obstacles to encountering God. God's gifts become obstacles when they become a purpose in themselves. Is it a bad thing that Martha served at the table and Mary listened to the word of God? Certainly, in principle not because the Last Supper itself and for us the Divine Liturgy involves serving a meal. But there are times when listening to the word of God is more important than serving the meal. In the case of Martha and Mary, it is more important that precise time to hear God because the time of His mission as Man is short, about 3 years. A similar situation is also in the case of the dinner guests, it is a precise moment of encountering God, Christ. There are six days, in which man has to work, so to devote himself to his needs, one is instead the day dedicated to God. The work of the property through the use of the means and the more concrete family needs have their time. There is a time of work in favor of personal needs and a time of communion with God which is ultimately a time in favor of man. The structures of which the parable speaks - the property, the means of maintenance and the family - are natural and necessary for the functioning of man in this world and will have an end but they must not contradict the work of God which in fact encompasses all because they are ultimately a gift from God.

The Divine Liturgy was followed by the concert - conference « Light from Bethlehem - the feast of the Nativity of the Lord between tradition and modernity » by Fr. Radu Trifon from the Diocese of Deva and Hunedoara.