The hierarchal vicar of Kotor-Tivat, parish priest of Kotor, archpriest-staurophor Nemanja Krivokapić, spoke today in the Church of St. Nicholas in Kotor about the messages of the Holy Gospel (Gospel of the Blessed Fish – Luke 5, 1-11. Gen. 17.) read at the Holy Liturgy. Another event from the multitude of miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ “the Creator of the Law” was described.

"In this miracle, the Lord did not heal anyone, resurrect anyone, but simply did something that people cannot do. He told the fishermen, who had fished all night and caught nothing, to cast their nets again. After that, they had a great catch," said Father Nemanja.

He points out that the fishermen, and later the apostles Simon and Peter, had previously been engaged in this work their entire lives and knew well when and what to do. In the aforementioned event, they were left without a catch at first, and then, at Jesus' word, they cast their nets again, which then burst from the abundant catch. A miracle happens.

"From this event, we learn first that God never gives vain commandments. In this case, commandments, in our situation that He places before us. It often seems illogical to us because we have some ideas, ideas according to which we function, how we have learned to work and plan our future, we are guided by that. However, it often happens that it is not so. Some temptations that God gives us, some situations, illnesses, deaths... Simply, a problem occurs that we did not plan for and then, those who have little faith, think about why God is doing this to me, why everything is wrong, different from what I planned," says Fr. Nemanja.

The question is actually, he continued, whether it is wrong or what we thought, since we all have some plans and which is natural.

"However, God also has his own, and who knows better what is better for us, us or God? We need to have trust in God, in what He proposes to us. The second thing we see here is that God blesses and rewards those who believe in Him, who have trust in Him. We see this from the lives of many saints, including the life of Saint Cyriacus, whom we celebrate today. We also see this from the life of the Most Holy Theotokos. That girl Mary had some plans in life. She thought she would pray to God, live a secluded life her whole life. Suddenly the Archangel Gabriel comes with a proposal completely different from what she had imagined," said Father Nemanja, adding that Mary shows obedience and humility, which as a virtue is completely opposite to the sin of pride. He also reminds us that St. John of Damascus was an excellent orator and a wonderful singer, but the abbot gave him the obedience to be in the kitchen, to clean, which he could have objected to with the explanation that he was an excellent orator.

“However, he humbled himself because he knew that this was obedience from God and that there would be times when he would orate and preach. Then he did what he was told to do and that is humility. This is what we need to think about when situations happen to us that we did not plan for. “Everything that is from God is sweeter than honey,” says a folk proverb, and it is definitely based on the words of the Gospel. What God offers us is certainly better for us. God also tests us in certain situations to see how we will react, to show our humility and obedience. Was it logical for the fishermen to cast their nets again after fishing all night, when they had caught nothing? "They did it according to the word of God and had a catch they had never had before," said Father Nemanja.

Third, he continued, and what today's Gospel teaches us is that even in God's miracles, He seeks human participation, since as the Almighty He could even tell the fish to jump out of the sea and into the nets.

"Nevertheless, He addressed the fishermen to cast the nets they had packed again in order to get a catch. God does not need help, but we humans need to participate in God's providence over us and to show faith and trust in God, that what happens to us, and is not according to our logic, is actually the best for our salvation. To the Lord, who cares about our salvation, be glory forever, amen," said Fr. Nemanja Krivokapić.