“Begin with God, with a prayer offered in faith, with a candle lit in silence, with an act of mercy done from the heart,” Archbishop Calinic of Suceava and Rădăuți said in a message marking the beginning of the new Church Year.
His Eminence explained that liturgical time should not be regarded merely as a succession of feasts, but as a journey of encounter with God.
“Make the liturgical calendar the compass of your life, experience the rhythm of time as the breath of grace, and measure yourself not against the world, but against the Gospel.”
Archbishop Calinic also emphasised the need to anchor life in the perspective of eternity and in the awareness of God’s love:
“For the Church Year is a periodic return to the time of the Creator of all things, but also an opportunity to acknowledge that you were created, called and loved by Him.”
“Choose the path of forgiveness. Forgive those who have hurt you, ask forgiveness from those you have wronged, make peace with the past, and in this way you will once again walk in the work of grace,” the Archbishop added.
A journey with Christ
His Eminence said the new Church Year is a time to draw closer to Holy Scripture and to translate faith into concrete acts of love.
“Sanctify the name of God by reading Holy Scripture, because where the word of God takes root, life too begins to bear fruit.”
“Seek the image of God in your neighbour, knowing that the Church Year is woven not only from feasts, but also from your acts of mercy, as evidence of concrete love.”
“Begin your day with God, sanctify time and do not waste it. Understand each moment as part of the calendar of salvation, in which every day is a ladder towards heaven,” the Archbishop of Suceava and Rădăuți added.
Archbishop Calinic concluded by urging the faithful to remain close to the Church and to receive the beginning of the new liturgical year as a time of spiritual renewal:
“Remain in the Church, for the liturgical year is the mystical image of a life in which we are reborn through the Nativity of the Lord, die to sin through the Cross, and rise in grace through the Resurrection.”
Photo: Archdiocese of Suceava and Rădăuți
