“The peace the Lord offers is different from the peace we observe, or that is presented to us in various forms. It is not the apparent quiet of cemeteries, nor the fragile balance of powers that neutralise one another,” Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova said on Tuesday.
The assistant bishop of the Archdiocese of Bucharest represented Patriarch Daniel at the second prayer meeting this year for Christian unity, held on Tuesday evening at the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of St Basil the Great in Bucharest.
During the service, the passage from the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verses 27–31, was read.
Peace, the deep stillness of the heart
Starting from the verse, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,” the hierarch spoke about the peace offered by God and the peace offered by people.
“The peace we seek is a deep stillness of the heart, which remains steadfast in the midst of a scattered world that is often so troubled. It is the peace of the person who knows where he comes from and where he is going. It is the peace of the one who has placed his hope not in principles, nor in the sons of men in whom there is no salvation, but in God who made heaven and earth.”
“The Passion and the Cross become the supreme act of love and obedience, the full revelation of God’s love for the world. God did not love us only in words, as people do and as we do, but through His deed and sacrifice, fulfilled on Golgotha,” he added.
St Maximus the Confessor
In the context of the commemoration of St Maximus the Confessor (January 21), Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova presented the saint’s teaching.
“Having reached what the Fathers call blessed inner clarity, or the clarity of mind born of prayer and humility, Maximus understood that true freedom is not acquired by accumulating power, but through ascetic struggle.”
“After long preparation and profound study, he bore witness firmly that God is love, and from Him remained the famous teachings known as the Chapters on Love, inspired by the words of the Apostle of Love, which he transformed into the creed of his entire thought,” the hierarch said.
He also underlined that “St Maximus deepened the doctrine of deification, not as a teaching, not as a precept, but as a lived experience and a real possibility, laying solid foundations for Orthodox theology and spirituality. He knew and taught that the ultimate goal of man is not merely liberation and rescue from the power of Satan and death, but deification.”
Prayer for Christian unity
The Week (Octave) of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place worldwide from January 18 to January 25, centred each year on a chosen theme.
This year’s meetings reflect on the biblical verse: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,” from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians (4:4).
Representatives of Christian Churches and denominations in the capital attended Tuesday evening’s service, along with Romania’s Secretary of State for Religious Denominations, Ciprian Vasile Olinici.
Photo: Lumina Newspaper / Mihnea Păduraru
