Patriarch Porfirije: Only in Christ can we know what is good and what is evil, what is sin and what is virtue
Homily of His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije delivered on 12 October 2025, in the Church of Saint Prince Lazar in Zemun Polje
Brothers and sisters, I rejoice that the Lord has blessed us to gather today and to serve the Holy Liturgy, to pray to God together here in Zemun Polje, in the church dedicated to Saint Prince Lazar – one of the saints from our nation who confirmed our choice and commitment to Christ, and who himself stood at the forefront of that choice. Prince Lazar confirmed that which we had already chosen when, in the person of Saint Sava, we became a baptized nation of Christ once and for all – a people walking the Orthodox path.
Saint Sava, like Saint Prince Lazar, had the freedom to choose. Both Saint Sava and Prince Lazar could have chosen a path other than the Orthodox one – a path of comfort, of ease, a path that allows one to do whatever comes to mind and whatever the heart desires. However, Saint Sava first chose for us, and Saint Prince Lazar later confirmed that path – his path and ours, both for his own time and for the times to come. It is the narrow path, the path of the Cross, the path of crucifying one’s passionate will, one’s egoism, one’s self-centered desires. It is a path that requires sacrifice, a path that requires the cross – but at the same time, it is the only path that leads to victory, the path of resurrection, the path of triumph not of our own will, nor of human will, but of the will of God. It is the path in which what we daily say in the Lord’s Prayer is fulfilled: Thy will be done, not ours; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is why, brothers and sisters, we rejoice today that we have Prince Lazar, who made the Gospel of Christ the rule of our life, who placed the word of Christ as the foundation of our existence, who made the law of God the measure, rule, and mirror of all laws imposed upon us to live by – and the measure, rule, and mirror of every thought, every word, every deed, and every decision of ours.
Only in Christ do we know who we are. Only in Christ can we know what is good and what is evil, what is sin and what is virtue. In Christ and through Christ, identifying ourselves with Him, we see the whole world as a gift of God and every human being as our neighbor, as our brother. Saint Prince Lazar, in whose church we are gathered, knew this. That is why every one of his words, thoughts, and deeds was preceded by self-examination in Christ, by prayer to Christ.
The Lord Himself – as we see in today’s Gospel – chooses His followers and calls the apostles to follow Him. Yet even then, at the beginning of His saving mission, and at every important moment in His earthly life and in our salvation, He withdrew and prayed to God. He withdrew and turned to the Father in prayer, showing us that only in prayerful communion with God can we discern – though we have many choices – which is the true and right choice, the choice of Christ, the choice that leads to our salvation. The Lord chooses the apostles, calls them to follow Him, to become His co-workers – co-workers in His preaching, His testimony, His mission, which is the salvation of humankind and of the whole world.
We too, brothers and sisters, must find in the Gospel not merely inspiration or an example to follow, but ourselves – our place under the heavens – and we must build our lives upon the Gospel. All of us, by entering into the Church of Christ, by being baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, by becoming members of the Church, that is, members of the Body of Christ, become apostles by that very fact. We are called to be witnesses of Christ – not primarily by our words, not by what we say, but by our commitment and by our life. We are called to strive, walking the path of Christ, to identify ourselves with the apostles – to become co-workers in His saving work, the work of our salvation and that of all humankind.
We can do this only if we dedicate our entire being to Christ, and if every action and every choice of ours begins with prayer. Therefore, prayer should be the beginning and the end of our day but also present in every moment of our life. Every moment of the day should be filled with prayer – prayer that is, above all, thanksgiving to God: Thank You, Lord, for everything! Thank You for waking me up this morning! Thank You for everything I encounter throughout the day! For nothing in our lives happens without God’s providence and His will.
It is not for us to judge whether something that comes to us is meant as comfort or hardship, as an apparent blessing or as suffering. Our task is to give thanks for all things, for everything that comes from God is a blessing. Whether favorable or unfavorable, each is a task we are called to solve – and in each, we must remain humble and meek. If it is a hardship, we must turn to God all the more earnestly, on our knees and with tears, asking what He wants to tell us through that difficulty we call a trial. It is certain that in hardship we must show our faith, our commitment to Christ, our trust in Him – not fall into faintheartedness or despair, for these are signs of weak or even absent faith.
If what comes to us is favorable, we must give thanks to God but also remember that it comes from Him, that it is not something we have earned, and therefore should not make us proud, vain, or arrogant toward others. In every case, we must show humility, meekness, and gratitude to God. Let everything begin with prayer and end with prayer – let us converse with God, stretch out our hand to Him, receive what He tells us, and know that He is always with us. Let us turn to Him as to our closest and dearest one; then we will surely, brothers and sisters, as members of the community of the Church that begins and ends its life in the Holy Liturgy, receive not only the true and right answer (for that is not the main thing), but also comfort, strength, and hope. Then we will know that there is nothing that comes from God that we cannot overcome if it seems unfavorable, and that if it is favorable– if it is joy and beauty – we must respond with even greater thanksgiving, greater humility, and greater love toward the Giver and toward every neighbor.
I rejoice that we are here today. Let us remember that we too are apostles – and the greater our calling, the greater our responsibility. Let us not be swayed by the fleeting impressions of daily life. Everything that comes our way throughout the day, from whatever side it comes, let us test it by the Gospel, let us measure it by salvation – by eternity, to which each of us, and every other human being, is called. It is not for us to be judges, and especially not to reject or condemn anyone in the name of God. It is not for us to dispense justice. It is for us to bear witness to Christ, to bear witness to the Church, and to show what the Church is and what it is not.
Therefore, may the Lord grant that we always, turning to Him, gather in the community called the Church, that we come together in this church, partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus – becoming one with Him – become organically united with one another, one community glorifying the name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, I rejoice that the Lord has blessed us to gather today and to serve the Holy Liturgy, to pray to God together here in Zemun Polje, in the church dedicated to Saint Prince Lazar – one of the saints from our nation who confirmed our choice and commitment to Christ, and who himself stood at the forefront of that choice. Prince Lazar confirmed that which we had already chosen when, in the person of Saint Sava, we became a baptized nation of Christ once and for all – a people walking the Orthodox path.
Saint Sava, like Saint Prince Lazar, had the freedom to choose. Both Saint Sava and Prince Lazar could have chosen a path other than the Orthodox one – a path of comfort, of ease, a path that allows one to do whatever comes to mind and whatever the heart desires. However, Saint Sava first chose for us, and Saint Prince Lazar later confirmed that path – his path and ours, both for his own time and for the times to come. It is the narrow path, the path of the Cross, the path of crucifying one’s passionate will, one’s egoism, one’s self-centered desires. It is a path that requires sacrifice, a path that requires the cross – but at the same time, it is the only path that leads to victory, the path of resurrection, the path of triumph not of our own will, nor of human will, but of the will of God. It is the path in which what we daily say in the Lord’s Prayer is fulfilled: Thy will be done, not ours; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is why, brothers and sisters, we rejoice today that we have Prince Lazar, who made the Gospel of Christ the rule of our life, who placed the word of Christ as the foundation of our existence, who made the law of God the measure, rule, and mirror of all laws imposed upon us to live by – and the measure, rule, and mirror of every thought, every word, every deed, and every decision of ours.
Only in Christ do we know who we are. Only in Christ can we know what is good and what is evil, what is sin and what is virtue. In Christ and through Christ, identifying ourselves with Him, we see the whole world as a gift of God and every human being as our neighbor, as our brother. Saint Prince Lazar, in whose church we are gathered, knew this. That is why every one of his words, thoughts, and deeds was preceded by self-examination in Christ, by prayer to Christ.
The Lord Himself – as we see in today’s Gospel – chooses His followers and calls the apostles to follow Him. Yet even then, at the beginning of His saving mission, and at every important moment in His earthly life and in our salvation, He withdrew and prayed to God. He withdrew and turned to the Father in prayer, showing us that only in prayerful communion with God can we discern – though we have many choices – which is the true and right choice, the choice of Christ, the choice that leads to our salvation. The Lord chooses the apostles, calls them to follow Him, to become His co-workers – co-workers in His preaching, His testimony, His mission, which is the salvation of humankind and of the whole world.
We too, brothers and sisters, must find in the Gospel not merely inspiration or an example to follow, but ourselves – our place under the heavens – and we must build our lives upon the Gospel. All of us, by entering into the Church of Christ, by being baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, by becoming members of the Church, that is, members of the Body of Christ, become apostles by that very fact. We are called to be witnesses of Christ – not primarily by our words, not by what we say, but by our commitment and by our life. We are called to strive, walking the path of Christ, to identify ourselves with the apostles – to become co-workers in His saving work, the work of our salvation and that of all humankind.
We can do this only if we dedicate our entire being to Christ, and if every action and every choice of ours begins with prayer. Therefore, prayer should be the beginning and the end of our day but also present in every moment of our life. Every moment of the day should be filled with prayer – prayer that is, above all, thanksgiving to God: Thank You, Lord, for everything! Thank You for waking me up this morning! Thank You for everything I encounter throughout the day! For nothing in our lives happens without God’s providence and His will.
It is not for us to judge whether something that comes to us is meant as comfort or hardship, as an apparent blessing or as suffering. Our task is to give thanks for all things, for everything that comes from God is a blessing. Whether favorable or unfavorable, each is a task we are called to solve – and in each, we must remain humble and meek. If it is a hardship, we must turn to God all the more earnestly, on our knees and with tears, asking what He wants to tell us through that difficulty we call a trial. It is certain that in hardship we must show our faith, our commitment to Christ, our trust in Him – not fall into faintheartedness or despair, for these are signs of weak or even absent faith.
If what comes to us is favorable, we must give thanks to God but also remember that it comes from Him, that it is not something we have earned, and therefore should not make us proud, vain, or arrogant toward others. In every case, we must show humility, meekness, and gratitude to God. Let everything begin with prayer and end with prayer – let us converse with God, stretch out our hand to Him, receive what He tells us, and know that He is always with us. Let us turn to Him as to our closest and dearest one; then we will surely, brothers and sisters, as members of the community of the Church that begins and ends its life in the Holy Liturgy, receive not only the true and right answer (for that is not the main thing), but also comfort, strength, and hope. Then we will know that there is nothing that comes from God that we cannot overcome if it seems unfavorable, and that if it is favorable– if it is joy and beauty – we must respond with even greater thanksgiving, greater humility, and greater love toward the Giver and toward every neighbor.
I rejoice that we are here today. Let us remember that we too are apostles – and the greater our calling, the greater our responsibility. Let us not be swayed by the fleeting impressions of daily life. Everything that comes our way throughout the day, from whatever side it comes, let us test it by the Gospel, let us measure it by salvation – by eternity, to which each of us, and every other human being, is called. It is not for us to be judges, and especially not to reject or condemn anyone in the name of God. It is not for us to dispense justice. It is for us to bear witness to Christ, to bear witness to the Church, and to show what the Church is and what it is not.
Therefore, may the Lord grant that we always, turning to Him, gather in the community called the Church, that we come together in this church, partake of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus – becoming one with Him – become organically united with one another, one community glorifying the name of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.