According to the old Kotor custom, on the first Sunday after Savindan, the benefactors of the Serbian schools of Kotor are commemorated, and in the Church of St. Nicholas today, when our Holy Church celebrates the Venerable Macarius of Egypt and St. Mark of Ephesus, the first in a series of preparatory Sundays before Easter Lent was prayerfully celebrated – the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee.

“With the Gospel of Zacchaeus, which we heard last Sunday and this one about the Publican and the Pharisee, the preparatory Sundays before Great Lent begin. The theme of today’s Gospel is humility,” said in his sermon the Archbishop’s Vicar of Kotor-Tivat, the parish priest of Kotor, Archpriest-Staurophorus Nemanja Krivokapić.

Lent, he pointed out, is seen by the Church as an extremely important period in which we take care of our souls, which is why preparation is made for such a thing through gospel stories that remind us of the virtues we need to acquire.

“Through the story that this gospel tells us, we follow two men who came to the Church to pray. They are members of the Jewish people, they came to pray to God, but in two different ways. The first Pharisee fulfills the entire law, everything that he should do and that the law of Moses dictated at that time. He fulfills all of that, and the second is a tax collector, very sinful. Tax collectors were otherwise considered the most sinful people because, given their type of work, they could very easily offend other people because they collected money for the emperor and often took it for themselves. That is why they are synonymous with a sinful man. The gospel clearly says “that this sinner was justified, not that Pharisee who fulfilled the entire law”. Some interpreters of the Holy Scripture say that this Pharisee was a hypocrite and that he only “pro-forma” fulfilled that law, without sincerely praying to God. This is not written in Someone can interpret the Holy Scriptures in that way, and maybe he simply didn't," said Father Nemanja.

Perhaps, he continued, he did all that sincerely, but the way he addresses God and how he positions himself, how he thinks about himself, is problematic. Namely, even if everything he did is true, he attributes it to himself as merit and almost as if he achieved something by doing so. So, everything he has to deserve by being like that. The problem is especially when he says "thank you that I am not like these others". So, he looks at other people, especially this sinner, with contempt. That is not the way we pray to God. God knows first of all, if we have done something well, we don't need to remind him. Secondly, whatever we have done, everything we have, God has given us. So, we have nothing here on earth that we did not receive from God. And what we have done is only a small part in relation to what God has given us, that is, the love that God shows towards us.

The other one, it is not good that he sins, but it is good that he is aware of himself and his sinfulness. Therefore, he stands humbly, he cannot even, as it says there, raise his head, but only prays within himself, saying “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner”. Therefore, he is aware of his sinfulness and that is what God felt. So, for us to be aware of who we are and where we are, not to trust too much in our own abilities, but in the mercy of God. Therefore, he was justified precisely because he showed humility. That humility is the first and basic virtue that we need to acquire in order to be able to think in general about all those virtues that we need to acquire during Lent”, said Fr. Nemanja.

Speaking about the importance of humility, he emphasizes that it is the complete opposite of the greatest sin, pride.

“The pride that this tax collector showed at the beginning. That is what separates us from God, that is the sin that Satan also fell into, that is the sin that Adam also fell into. The exact opposite of that is humility. Being aware that we are created, that we are small and sinful. Of course, that only encourages us, to work, to try harder, and not to think that we are nothing. God created us in his image and likeness. Therefore, he gave us the opportunity, as God's creation, in the image and likeness of God, to be worthy of the Kingdom of God and to see God face to face. And that depends solely on us, on our relationship with God and not only with God, but with all of creation, especially with other people. Therefore, humility will remind us that we are created, but also that we can deserve the Kingdom of God by living a godly life, repenting of sins and strengthening "The virtue that the fast we are entering teaches us. May the Lord God grant that all these preparatory weeks, and the fast itself, lead us into such a way of life that leads us into the Kingdom of God, amen," said Father Nemanja.