Passions bring unrest, fear, and dehumanization, warned Bishop Ignatie of Huși during his homily on the 5th Sunday after Pentecost.
“Passions, you must know, never bring peace. No sin can give peace. They bring unrest, fear, and a state of dehumanization,” he said.
“That is why—as Saint Dumitru Stăniloae tells us—the devils, just as they fell from their status as angels to demons, strive to bring us down from true and authentic humanity and prevent us from achieving it.”
“They dehumanize us, turn us into non-humans, just as they, from angels of light, became angels of darkness. They work hard, with our consent—it does not happen without our free will—to dehumanize us,” Bishop Ignatie explained.
How Should We Relate to Technological Progress?
The bishop emphasized that the Church is not against technological or material progress but warns about how people relate to these things.
“The Church is not against progress, nor against the conveniences we can all enjoy—atheists and agnostics try to manipulate that narrative. The Church highlights a pathological attachment to material things, to consumerism.”
“Whenever the center of a person’s life shifts from God to material things, man turns into a demon,” Bishop Ignatie remarked.
Not Becoming Slaves to Passions
He continued, saying that passions steal human freedom, turning people into tools:
“The sign by which we can tell this is happening is that whenever we are dominated by a passion, we practically become a tool of that passion. Our freedom is stolen; we no longer have the capacity to rise above all that is sinful. Instead of mastering passions and restraining from them, we let them rule over us, becoming their slaves.”
The Importance of Struggle
In conclusion, the bishop emphasised that regaining one’s footing after falling into sin and fighting against passions is valued by Christ and should be the believer’s goal.
“We need to be in communion with one another, but it’s up to us when we decide to fall into the pit, even if we need someone to help us get up,” Bishop Ignatie concluded.
“May Christ grant us wisdom and give us this spirit of struggle. This is what God values most in man, along with a state of repentance. We fall, but we must have the strength to rise and correct ourselves.”
Photo: Diocese of Huși
