Word of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill after the Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Martyr Lydia in Kaliningrad mp

Word of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill after the Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Martyr Lydia in Kaliningrad Слово Святейшего Патриарха Кирилла после Литургии в храме святой мученицы Лидии в Калининграде print version November 25, 2018 23:41 On November 25, 2018, on Week 26 of Pentecost, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Martyr Lydia in Kaliningrad. At the end of the service, the Primate of the Russian Church addressed the believers with a sermon. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost! Today, on the 26th Sunday after Trinity, we, according to the church regulations, read a small passage from the Gospel telling about the merciful Samaritan — about how he helped a person who was attacked by robbers and who needed help (Luke 10: 25-37 ). The Lord told this story in response to the question “who is my neighbor?”, And when His story reached the ears of the listeners, the answer to the counter question “who do you think was your neighbor for the one whom the robbers attacked?” Was obvious. Those who heard the Lord and the Savior answered: "Of course, the one who showed mercy to him." “Middle” is a very important concept. Usually we distribute it to the closest, dear people - this is the father, mother, brothers, sisters, husband, wife, children ... But in fact the concept of "neighbor" is much broader, and it should include not only relatives and friends, but also other people. And now the question arises: “Whom should we include in this narrow circle, called our neighbors?” Of course, everyone acts according to his own understanding, and often people create the appearance that this or that person is a neighbor for them. This is done for the sake of career, material gain, corporate relations, but in reality, at the heart level, there is no closeness between people. This is quite understandable, because a person can only allow close to himself the one to whom he has a cordial relationship. When a person becomes really close, it is even more than trust, and in such a relationship has its own logic and its own sensible sense. But the Lord offers us to expand the boundaries of the circle of those to whom the concept of “neighbor” extends, and connects the expansion of these boundaries with our ability to do good. And St. John Chrysostom says that the neighbor for us is the one to whom we do good, to whom we go to meet. What is the matter? Why the neighbor can be the one to whom we do good? And because, by doing good, we never forget the one to whom we did it. Our good is a part of us. Whether it is material assistance, moral support, just kind words spoken in a difficult moment, this is part of our nature, our consciousness, our will, our feelings. By extending our own "I" to others, we, naturally, include them in the orbit of our life, so that they become our neighbors. And the good Samaritan, a foreigner, became, undoubtedly, very close to the one whom the robbers attacked. After all, it was the Samaritan who got out of the way, seeing a bloody, battered traveler, poured wine on his wounds, and anointed him with oil, put him on an ass, and drove it to the hotel, and gave the money to the hotel owner, saying: if you spend more, on the way back I will reimburse everything to you. ” Of course, this man remembered the Samaritan, who did good to him, as the Samaritan remembered this traveler forever. It is no coincidence that the Lord tells us this story. He invites us to do the same to have close people. To have loved ones, you need to do good, and this good really connects people. It is more than political solidarity, more than utilitarian solidarity associated with the achievement of some corporate interests. When we do each other good, we become neighbors. The words of the Holy Gospel that are addressed to us today must really reach our consciousness. For in the word of God there is not a single empty or superfluous word. And if we fulfill all that God teaches us, we will first of all become happy people, because the salvation of the human soul and happiness are synonymous. There can be no one without the other. There can be no happiness without the salvation of the soul, and there can be no salvation of the soul without happiness, because Divine mercy, His love, a reflection of the Divine Kingdom is reflected in human happiness. And in order to become the owners of all this riches of grace and the grace of God, we must remember that doing good deeds is something very important both for those to whom we pay these things and, perhaps, first of all, for us themselves. Today, many need our help. The help of wealthy people need the poor. Helping healthy people need the sick. The help of strong people is needed by the weak. And by providing such help and support, we not only establish a special kind of interpersonal relations, but also increase the level of solidarity of the whole society. How important it is for society to be united! And solidarity is manifested in mutual assistance. Solidarity was our people in the terrible years of World War II. And as a result - the Great Victory, which could never be achieved if the society, the people did not unite in the name of a common goal and did not bear upon each other. And we, living in a relatively calm and prosperous time, should not forget about the fundamental Divine commandments that make a person happy. Let the wisdom that we perceive from the word of God be translated into our thoughts and our deeds, changing us and the whole world around for the better. We all hope for this, for the sake of this we perform divine services, we pray, we preach the word of God, so that we all and the world may become better. Amen.