On Sunday, Assistant Bishop Timotei of Prahova reminded the faithful at the Patriarchal Cathedral that acts of kindness toward others are ultimately directed toward God.
“Every good deed done for others is offered to God. When we help someone in need, we are, in fact, helping God,” the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Bucharest said, reflecting on the parable of the rich man with an abundant harvest.
Encouragement to pursue charity
Assistant Bishop Timotei emphasized the importance of helping those in need—whether the sick, the poor, or those struggling with daily life—as an investment in one’s spiritual salvation.
He highlighted the wisdom of St. John Chrysostom, who taught that “not only do the poor need the rich, but the rich need the poor to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
He added, “The best and safest place to store our wealth is in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
A Call to Shared Stewardship
The hierarch explained that material wealth is a gift from God and should be shared wisely.
“There have always been people who understood that what they received did not belong to them. The rich gifts, in a fruitful year, are not directed to a single person. We are told that God makes His sun rise on the good and on the bad, on the just and on the sinners, which means that these gifts from the field, the gifts from the gardens, the gifts from certain institutions, are due to everyone, but they must be well administered, well governed.”
“There were people who in different fields stood out through a wisdom inspired by God and did good things, remaining in the history of some places, in the history of a country and even in the history of the world.”
“The one mentioned in today’s Gospel, naturally, not only spiritually, but at least as a good man could have thought when he received so much wealth to share it with others. Or if he doesn’t share it, at least give a little of it, but his mind was darkened and it’s in vain that we judge only him because we often do the same.”
Lessons from Generosity
Bishop Timotei recounted an example of charity: when Metropolitan Visarion Puiu sent firewood to the students of Cernica Monastery during a harsh winter, ensuring their comfort for several years.
He called for similar acts of generosity:
“If we have received something more than our neighbor or acquaintance, let us not keep it only for ourselves, let us not only have the projects of building great barns, bigger than we have, because what we gain here can be wasted in an instant, and our departure can be at any time, unexpectedly, as happened in the case of the one mentioned in today’s Gospel”.
“If we are wise and give at least sometimes, at least to one person, we cannot, in this capacity, help the whole world. But each of us can turn to at least one person, at least to someone who is waiting for a good thought, a good deed and a look in measure”.
“We pray, beloved believers, to the Most Merciful God, that we may not be called fools, that we may be wise in order to redeem the time”, concluded His Grace.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Synod’s pastoral letter for the first Sunday of the Nativity Fast was read out.
Photo: Basilica.ro
