Vasilije Prota Tomic - Page 6 of 18 -

Poverty and wealth, the poor and rich

Nov

19

2016

Luke 16:19-31 The reflection on poverty and wealth and the poor and rich should not leave anyone indifferent. No one among us can say, “This does not apply to me, there are wealthier and more selfish people than myself in this world.” Even if this were true, there are definitely people who are poorer than ...

As you want others to do to you, you also do to them likewise

Nov

4

2016

Luke 6:31 “And just as you want men to do, you also do to them likewise.” (Luke 6:31) Even if we see a hint of selfishness in being good for our own benefit, how wonderful it would be if we were able to abide by this evangelical truth! There would never be any disagreements not ...

Do not ignore God’s invitation

Oct

23

2016

(Matthew 22: 1-14) The Holy Gospel invites us and warns us that no one has an excuse. It is about God’s invitation, sent to all of us to come to Him, to approach Him. Christ illustrated this invitation in the story about a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. As all of ...

All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution

Oct

7

2016

(2 Tim. 3: 10-15) When we listen to the Gospel readings at every holy Liturgy most of us experience them as complete entities. However, the readings of the Epistles often seem as though they have been pulled out of a wider context and we feel that an introduction is necessary for the sake of better ...

About the widows while leafing through the Holy Script

Sep

24

2016

We have recently buried a Serbian woman. At the funeral, which was very large, beside our church singer and me, no more than three Serbs were present. An insignificant person, you would think. I was likely tempted to think that too until I entered the home of one of her sons after the burial. There ...

About the Commitment to the Will of God

Sep

9

2016

Mt. 19, 16-26 A rich young man approaches Christ with a question: which is a good deed he should do so that he could get eternal life. The Lord reminds him about Moses` commands along with rebuking him for trying to fawn over him, calling him gracious. Christ, too, was thirsty for love and goodness ...

They bequeathed to us the teaching of God, pure and unchanged – The Sunday of the Holy Fathers

Aug

27

2016

John 17:1-13 Certain days in the Church year are dedicated to the memory of the Holy Fathers. These are the men, brothers and sisters, who, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, studied, interpreted and spread the teachings of the Church. Many of them sacrificed a great deal for the holy teachings. Most of them gave their ...

Self-exiled Welcoming Catacombs

Aug

13

2016

“Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jer. 23, 29) Our words as well, once, were clean and scorching like a fire; and they had such weight behind them so that hard rocks would shatter under them. In the meantime, our words ...

In honour giving preferance to one onother

Aug

1

2016

(Rom. 12: 10) St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans, chapter 6, gives us a most valuable lesson on how to live together, how to coordinate our relationships and how to transcend our many weaknesses, among which pride and envy are the chief. For us Serbs, one of the instructions of the Apostle has a particularly ...

With the mouth confession is made unto salvation

Jul

15

2016

(Rom. 10: 10) “For with the heart one believes into righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10) writes St. Paul in his epistle to the Christians in Rome. Before this, the Apostle expounds on a subject that was very common in his day, as it is in ours: what does ...