The 32nd Assembly of the Brotherhood of Orthodox Youth of Montenegro was held at the Monastery of the Holy Archangels at Miholjska Prevlaka near Tivat.
The Holy Liturgy in the ancient seat of the Zeta bishops was celebrated on this occasion by His Eminence Archbishop of Cetinje, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Mr. Joanikije, with the concelebration of His Eminence Archbishop of Düsseldorf-Berlin and Metropolitan of Germany, Mr. Gregory, and His Eminence Bishop of Pakrac and Slavonia, Mr. Jovan, the clergy, clergy and faithful.
After the Divine Service, a special program was held at the Holy Archangel Monastery, organized by the Brotherhood of Orthodox Youth of Montenegro.
His Eminence Metropolitan Grigorije addressed the faithful with a sermon after the reading of the Holy Gospel.
At the beginning, the Bishop cited a part of the Gospel passage when the apostles ask Christ to send the people away to buy food for themselves and Christ's response: Give them yourselves, that they may eat, and taught that this is precisely the essence of the Gospel. Bishop Grigorije states that we often push a person away from us when we do not know how to help him, but Christ keeps him close to Himself and calls the disciples to participate in His care for him.
“He does not ask the disciples to perform a miracle themselves, but to bring him what they have. Five loaves and two fish are little in front of so many people, but in Christ’s hands they become enough for everyone.
God, brothers and sisters, does not ask us to have everything that the people around us need. He wants us to offer him what he has given us and not to keep it for ourselves.
In the second Gospel passage, Christ prays to the Father: Holy Father, keep them in your name, that they may be one as we are. In both Gospels we see the same care of Christ for man. He does not dismiss the hungry and does not leave the disciples alone, but keeps them and offers them to the Father in prayer, and His words: All that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine, show us that love is always a gift. This is how the Church should be. Christ entrusts her with the bread of life to pass on to the people. He blesses and gives, and the Church she distributes the gifts, knowing that she received nothing for herself. So Christ also raises his eyes to heaven, blesses the loaves and gives them to his disciples to distribute to the people. What he receives from the Father, he immediately gives to people.
It is no coincidence that we hear these gospel words today here in Prevlaka, celebrating the Holy Archangel Gabriel in the space dedicated to the Holy Archangel Michael. It is especially beautiful that we celebrate the feast of the Holy Archangel Gabriel in the sanctuary dedicated to the Holy Archangel Michael. In church tradition, Michael is the image of resistance to evil, while Gabriel is the bearer of the good news. Michael guards the space of life and good, and Gabriel announces that life has a future and that good triumphs. These two ministries are deeply connected. The fight against evil, if left without Gabriel's good news, easily turns into a constant search for enemies, which we see all too often all around us. Likewise, the good A word that has no strength or content to oppose evil can become an empty consolation.
And the very name of this place speaks of connection. The Strait is a narrow passage between two shores and therefore reminds us of what the Church and every Christian are called to do. To bring man closer to God and people to each other. Isn't that what the holy archangel Gabriel is like, who stands before God and is then sent to man to bring him the good news?
This place called the Strait has been a place of prayer, suffering and renewal for centuries. Generations have passed here. Temples have been built and destroyed, but prayer has not ceased. Today, we continue what others have begun and we are obliged to leave those who will come after us a sanctuary in which they will find peace. Christian memory must not be the preservation of old enmities, because we remember suffering, but never "We will not remember evil" - concluded His Eminence Metropolitan of Düsseldorf and Germany, Mr. Grigorije.
After the blessing of the Slava cake, His Eminence Bishop of Pakrac and Slavonia, Mr. Jovan, and His Eminence Archbishop of Cetinje, Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, Mr. Joanikije, spoke.
Bishop Jovan said that today's gathering at Miholjska Prevlaka is a great blessing and that we are confirming the vow of Saint Sava.
"And that is why it is a blessing from God that we have gathered here, confirming the vow of Saint Sava that Miholjska Prevlaka is the second see of the Serbian Church, the Archbishopric of Žica and the Patriarchate of Peć. All of that together. We are not just one or the other or the third, but we are both one and the other and the third. And here it is by the sea. That sea from which one can reach by boat the shores of the Holy Land and the Holy Mountain and Ephesus where the tomb of the Apostle John is where he lived with the Mother of God. And to Smyrna and Constantinople and to all the holy places. That is precisely why Saint Sava erected a see here to connect this land and make it as holy as the Holy Land where he learned and which he loved so much.