Youngest Romanian bishop urges young people in diaspora to ‘be bridges, not walls’

“You are the heart of the Church scattered throughout the world, like the seed of the Gospel carried to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8),” Assistant Bishop Iachint of the Pacific of the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Australia and New Zealand told young Orthodox Christians on Wednesday. Marking International Youth Day , the youngest hierarch of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church emphasised that, although young people live in different social and cultural contexts, they remain united by faith in Christ and by the same fundamental values: “meaning, love, truth and a future worth living”. “You, the young Orthodox Christians of the diaspora, are living proof that it is possible to live in a different context, in another country, with another language and another rhythm of life, and yet have the same faith, the same Liturgy and the same hope.” Family at the heart of young people’s lives Assistant Bishop Iachint of the Pacific explained that the family is the place where love, prayer, forgiveness and self-sacrifice are learnt and lived: “This is where our message meets the theme of the Orthodox Youth Meeting in Bucharest .” “St John Chrysostom calls the family a little church, the place where prayer, forgiveness and self-sacrifice are learnt before they are lived out in society.” “The desire to love genuinely, to be loved faithfully and to build a healthy family is an aspiration shared by all young people,” His Grace added. The bishop also cautioned that professional success and material prosperity cannot, by themselves, give full meaning to human existence: “A career, education and professional success are good and desirable, but they need a centre that does not waver.” “St John Chrysostom reminds us, however, that true wealth is that of the soul purified of the passions and filled with grace, and that the poorest person who is at peace in Christ is richer than an emperor troubled by the passions. Your common aspiration, regardless of the continent on which you live, for a better future finds its complete fulfilment only when that future includes communion with God.” ‘Be bridges, not walls’ The Assistant Bishop urged young Romanian Orthodox Christians in the diaspora to become a force for bringing people and communities closer together: “You, young Orthodox Christians scattered throughout the world, have a particular calling: to be bridges, not walls.” “The common aspiration of young people everywhere for justice, dignity and peace finds a concrete response when each person, like the Good Samaritan, becomes a neighbour to someone in need — that is, the ultimate criterion of love.” His Grace explained that this year’s theme represents a foundation of faith and a concrete expression of Christian love. “Different contexts, common aspirations is not merely the theme of an international day, but the very mystery of the Church of Christ: one Body, many members, one hope,” the bishop said. “May our Lord Jesus Christ, who united heaven and earth, also unite your hearts, wherever you may be across the globe, in a single aspiration: to know Him, to love Him and to follow Him,” Assistant Bishop Iachint of the Pacific concluded. Photo: Facebook / Radu Vodă Monastery