On May 26, 2024, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia presided over the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saint Sava in Vračar, on the Sunday of the Paralytic.
Patriarch Porfirije expressed his gratitude to Bishops Justin of Western Europe, Stefan of Remesiana, and Jovan of Hum, as well as Archimandrite Raphael from Podmaine Monastery, and priests Miloš Trišić from Tuzla and Dejan Mandić from Koper, along with other clergy members. He highlighted:
In today’s Gospel, the Lord urges us to follow the example of the man who had been sick for 38 years. Despite his many afflictions, his perseverance and unwavering faith in Christ enabled him to overcome his illnesses. The root cause of his suffering, like all ailments experienced by humanity, is revealed at the end of the Gospel when the Lord, after healing him, says: “Go and sin no more!”
“The source of every human disease is sin,” emphasized the Holy Patriarch. “Sin signifies a wrong way of being in relation to God and what we have been given by God, namely, our nature. In our quest for healing from every illness and disease, we must first confront the sin within us and the passions that dwell in us. This is because sin is detrimental to our well-being.”
“May the Lord grant us the strength to adhere to the teachings of Christ,” concluded Patriarch Porfirije. “As Bishop Justin and Father Raphael have emphasized, our entire tradition instructs us to embark on this struggle. We must acknowledge our fallibility and weakness, acknowledge our illness, and understand that the ultimate aim of our healing and salvation is not just the absence of disease, but the union of love with Christ, the completeness of life, purpose, and joy that can only be found in Him.”
Source: spc.sr
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