The Holy Council of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church began on May 13, 2025, with the Holy Bishops' Liturgy in the Memorial Church of Saint Sava in Vračar, which was presided over by His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Mr. Porphyry with the concelebration and prayerful participation of the council fathers.
After the reading of the Holy Gospel, the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Braničevski, Mr. Ignatius:

- Dear fathers, dear brothers and sisters, with the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch Mr. Porphyry, I have the great honor and pleasure to address to your love a few words about today's Gospel, that is, about the event that describes today's Gospel. Besides the miracle that the Lord did with fishing, we usually forget another side of this event, which is that the Lord called Peter, James and John to follow Him. And they, he says, left everything at that moment and followed Him. What does this mean, dear brothers and sisters? What is this act and how did Saint Peter, James and John follow the Lord, leaving everything? This is also important for us, because the Lord calls us to follow Him. Here we are shown the apostles, who will later prove to be luminaries of the Christian faith, that they left their boats and nets, therefore, they left what they used to live on, what they used to earn their bread. They also left their families, their father, Peter was still married, so he left his family, and they followed the Lord. It is hard for us today to understand, what was the motive that made these apostles leave everything and follow the Lord. Because even today, when we look at it logically, we cannot understand who can leave the factory or the business they are engaged in and from whom they live and who can leave everything, even their will to lose, that is, to chase it before the will of God. When we reason logically, we can hardly accept all that. For example - post. When we look at it logically, we say, what is bad now, is it something bad? No, any food is good. But the essence is not in food, but in the fulfillment of God's will, while pursuing, that is, renouncing one's will. So what then made the apostles leave everything and follow the Lord? That, dear brothers and sisters, is love. Love was the motive and the driving force that made the apostles follow the Lord and they gave their lives for the Lord. Because, let's remember, when you love a person, then you are able to do everything for him. Since the Jews, the Jewish elders, spoke the worst about Christ, that he was a deceiver, they still decided to follow him because they love him. It is like when we love a person as a person; someone else can come and say: he is like this and that, but we don't listen to that, we love him and he is the best for us. That, dear brothers and sisters, was the motive for the apostles to follow the Lord, leaving everything behind. And that is also a lesson for us, because precisely through love for the Lord, we unite with Him and loving the Lord, we can no longer exist without Him. That is when you love someone, you are able to give your life for him, because you cannot imagine your existence without him. Love thus builds a community, a community of many with the Lord, with the Holy Spirit.

Love builds a liturgical community and in that liturgical community we are united with the Lord, who is the Son of God and who is in love with God the Father. Therefore, in that union, the Lord brings us to the Father, and thus we also become precious to God the Father, we become unique persons, just because the Lord God the Father loves his Son and the Son loves the Father and loves us. It's like when you love someone, and someone gives you an insignificant thing. That thing is big, precious for you and your soul hurts when you lose it. But she is not that by herself. It is because she entered into a loving union. And that is exactly what we are offering here - to this loving liturgical community, through our Lord who is the servant of God the Father. All this exists preciously, it becomes the same as the Son of God, therefore, it is adored. And that is the great miracle that happens to all of us who are members of the liturgical community, but, as I said, we can understand it only if we have love for the Lord. And as the apostle Paul says, everything will pass, knowledge will pass, faith will pass, but love remains, because love is the basis and way of our existence, because God also exists, because God is love. May the Lord make us worthy of His heavenly Kingdom now and always and forever and ever. Christ is risen!

The working part of the highest hierarchical, ecclesiastical-legislative and ecclesiastical-judicial body of the Serbian Orthodox Church, under the presidency of His Holiness the Patriarch of Serbia Mr. Porfiria and with the participation of the Most Reverend and Most Reverend Diocesan Bishops, will begin the next day, May 14, 2025, in the crypt of the Memorial Temple of St. Sava in Vračar.

According to the procedure specified in the Rules of Procedure, the session begins with the adoption of the agenda, which consists of the received items submitted by the Holy Synod of Bishops, and continues with the consideration of reports on the archpastoral work of all diocesan bishops, central church bodies, organs and institutes. At the end of the session, the Council will issue a public statement on its work.

Source: Serbian Orthodox Church