{"id":542864,"date":"2025-10-06T15:39:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T12:39:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=542864"},"modified":"2025-10-06T15:39:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T12:39:33","slug":"bishop-varlaam-love-enemies-true-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/bishop-varlaam-love-enemies-true-happiness\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishop Varlaam: Christ\u2019s command to love our enemies opens the path to true happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploie\u0219ti said on Sunday at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest that Christ\u2019s command to love one\u2019s enemies opens the way to \u201ctrue happiness, which is not measured by material gain but by peace and joy of the heart.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his homily, Bishop Varlaam explained that this commandment lifts believers above human logic and \u201cteaches us to adopt Christ\u2019s way of thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gospel of this Sunday reveals Christ\u2019s essential teaching about loving one\u2019s enemies and shows how the faithful are called to live according to the commandments of the Gospel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis commandment is not limited to words but calls us to overcome the logic of revenge and hatred that dominates human nature. It teaches us to see in every person the image of God and the possibility of salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n

True happiness is measured in peace, not possessions<\/h2>\n

To love one\u2019s enemies, the bishop said, means \u201cto respond to evil with good, to persecution with prayer, and to offences with forgiveness\u2014transforming ourselves and opening the path to true happiness, measured not by material possessions but by peace and joy of heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that this commandment can indeed be lived out, as shown by the lives of the saints. \u201cThe saints offer us concrete examples of this unconditional love through acts of mercy and through following Christ, even unto the sacrifice of their lives,\u201d Bishop Varlaam said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey teach us that what seems impossible for man becomes possible through God\u2019s grace, and that our lives can become a living testimony of divine love and forgiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an example, he cited Saint Basil the Great, who, despite being born into a wealthy family, distributed his inheritance to the poor and founded the Vasiliada\u2014a \u201ccity of mercy\u201d featuring hospitals, orphanages, and shelters for the needy.<\/p>\n

Photo: Lumina Newspaper<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Varlaam of Ploie\u0219ti said on Sunday at the Patriarchal Cathedral in Bucharest that Christ\u2019s command to love one\u2019s enemies opens the way to \u201ctrue happiness, which is not measured by material gain but by peace and joy of the heart.\u201d In his homily, Bishop Varlaam explained that this commandment lifts believers above…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":542768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26751,14],"tags":[3933,26575,33732],"class_list":["post-542864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bucharest-archdiocese","category-dioceses","tag-bishop-varlaam-of-ploiesti","tag-love-your-enemies","tag-sunday-sermon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}