Easter Message of Patriarch Porfirije: "Without Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija, there is no better life for us either"

In his message, Patriarch Porfirije stated that we should pray “with special attention and care for our brothers and sisters in Kosovo and Metohija, the centuries-old and historical source and spiritual center of the Serbian people.”

"By directly sharing with them all the trials and challenges they constantly face, strengthening them to persevere in their witness and to remain faithful to their Church, their faith, and themselves",  the Patriarch said in the message.

The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church pointed out that it is not enough to love Kosovo and Metohija only in words.

"That love must be translated into deeds, into concrete care for our neighbors, into brotherly acts of mercy, into caring for children and for all those who need help. It must not be allowed that, in the consciousness of our people, Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija are portrayed as an obstacle or hindrance to some future, supposedly better life. Without them, without our Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija, without the Serbs of Old Serbia, there is no better life for us either", Patriarch Porfirije emphasized.

He also highlighted that the word of God, the Gospel of Christ, the spiritual treasury of the Church of God, is full of truths hidden in God, which, as he said, are not abstract ideas but words fulfilled in our lives.

"Among them are the words by which the Lord warns us of times when peace will be taken from the earth, when we will hear of wars and rumors of wars, for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. We see unrest among nations, we hear of wars, and we are witnesses to wars, suffering, and uncertainty in the world, while the sky is torn by the trails of deadly rockets, and in the ears of troubled humanity echo the sounds of sirens announcing destruction and suffering", the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church stated.

"Let us recognize the Lord in every human suffering"

According to him, the Resurrection is not just an event belonging to the past, but a reality we enter each time we forgive, when we do not return blow for blow, and when we recognize a brother even in an enemy.

"Then we choose life instead of death. Then the stone is rolled away from our inner tomb as well. We recognize the Lord in every human suffering, which, unfortunately, is abundant, as well as in every poor, rejected, and despised person, encountering Him in them through active love", the Patriarch noted.

Foto: Tanjug/Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva

It is precisely in this, he emphasized, that it is shown that faith in the Resurrection is not merely an inner conviction.

"It is a force that shapes our relationship toward others, toward every human being as the image of God", Patriarch Porfirije said.

Finally, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church stressed that we are all one people and one body in Christ, united by the same faith and the same suffering, but also by the same hope and the same glorification.

"From such faith and such unity, dear spiritual children, let us enter into the joy of the Resurrection. We greet you all with the all-victorious and all-joyful greeting: ‘Christ is Risen!’", the Patriarch concluded in his Easter message.

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