"On the Road Again," Sunday, October 29, 2023
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Notes from the Other Side II
Sunday, October 29 2023, 03:56:41 pm
I can’t say enough nice things about the sisters of the Congregation of the Mother of the Lord. They have always been more than hospitable on the several occasions in the past when I have been a guest at their monastery (see photo), especially on one occasion a few years back when I developed something like the flu. A sister with medical training nursed me back to health in record time. They are pious and polite without being overbearing or starchy. And they seem to care for one another a great deal.
So I am delighted to be with them again, with, among the other sisters, Mother Teodorina Birtoc, CMD, Superior General, and Sister Letitia Crihalmeanu, CMD, the sister of my late good friend, Bishop Florentin Crihalmeanu, Bishop Claudiu’s predecessor as bishop of the Eparchy of Cluj-Gherla.
While walking around downtown Cluj yesterday (Saturday) with my cousin Mariana, I was surprised—stunned, really—to see a large bronze statue of Blessed Cardinal Iuliu Hossu, one of our seven martyr bishops beatified by Pope Francis on June 2, 2019 (see photo). I’m a foreigner here, but it seems to me that Pope Francis’ visit and the beatification of our martyrs has done quite a bit to raise Romanians’ awareness of and appreciation for our Greek-Catholic Church.
Needless to say, it was moving for me to have had the occasion twice, including this morning, to serve the Divine Liturgy where he served as Bishop of Cluj-Gherla, and to preach from the spot where he once stood to inspire and strengthen his people by his own preaching. The topic taken from today’s Gospel reading (Luke 8:41-56) was faith, and there was no one who preached more eloquently than Bishop Hossu when he reminded his people that “our faith is our life.” After the usual photographs, I was able to meet several people who wanted to connect with me, and I had a chance to say a fond goodbye to Mariana and Ioan.
Back to the monastery for lunch and a celebration of Sr. Bernadette’s birthday. This was an occasion on which the spirit and joy of the sisters really stood forth, much to my delight. As it happens, they have relatively recently opened the monastery’s divine services to the public and have begun consequently to attract some of their neighbors. The atmosphere here at those times is touching; today the weather was beautiful and, since the chapel itself is rather small, people were perfectly comfortable sitting outside the chapel and, indeed, all over the monastery grounds, where you could still hear the liturgy as it was served by Fr. Cristian David, the nuns’ chaplain. I appreciated the quiet piety and informality of the setting, and I congratulate the sisters on bringing the Lord to the people in this warm and welcoming way.
Shortly I will be leaving for Blaj with Bishop Claudiu for the meeting of the Synod. Although a visit by President Klaus Iohannis had been planned for tomorrow, that visit was called off, as often happens with political leaders and their many responsibilities. It would have been nice for the President to have been able to make his planned visit, but we now will have more opportunity as the Synod of our Church to discuss the issues facing her today. Please keep us in your prayers!
