Our relationship to other people is our relationship to Christ, said in a sermon at today's Holy Liturgy in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Kotor, the hierarchal vicar of Kotor - Tivat, the parish priest of Kotor, archpriest-staurophorus Nemanja Krivokapić.
Speaking about today's Gospel, he reminded that it is a story that Christ also told to the wicked vinedressers, who did not treat their master well.
Its purpose is to censure the Jewish people and their unworthy elders and teachers for not accepting Jesus Christ as the true Messiah.
"The Holy Fathers interpret that the master is God, the vineyard is the chosen people, the Jewish people, the vinedressers are the high priests, while the fence around the vineyard is the law of Moses that protects them from the influence of other, pagan, peoples.
The church, in their case, is the synagogue (Solomon's Temple), and the servants are the prophets and all those men of God who came to the Jewish people throughout history to tell them about the right path," said Father Nemanja.
The Gospel, he reminded, is a living word, always relevant.
“It always refers to the present time and to us. The chosen people today are the people who believed in Christ and followed Him. We are the vinedressers, whether we are evil or good, it depends on us.
This Gospel reminds us of our relationship with everything we have, as well as with other people. Everything we have here on earth was given to us. Nothing is ours, but everything was given to us by God for our use.
We are not here to acquire property, but to acquire the Kingdom of Heaven, and through our relationship with our neighbors and what we have,” said Fr. Nemanja.
Everything we acquire, he continued, should not be the center of our world, but rather a concern for the salvation of our neighbors and ourselves.
“Christ identifies with all of us people: “When I gave to man, I gave to God.”
It can be a kind word, support, a smile, not just material help, but also acknowledging someone as a person, seeing if they have a problem and how to help them, listening to them, if nothing else," said Father Nemanja, among other things.
(Photo-archive of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Kotor)