The Nativity Fast began with a call to love, charity and a willingness to help people in need. The message was delivered by Father Slavcho Prodanov, archpriest of the Targovishte spiritual district, during the Sunday Divine Liturgy at the St. John of Rila Church in Targovishte.
The Nativity Fast lasts 40 days. It begins on November 15 and continues until December 24 – Christmas Eve, preparing Orthodox Christians to celebrate the Nativity of Christ.
At the heart of Father Prodanov’s sermon was the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan and the question of who our neighbor is. The priest recalled the conversation between Jesus Christ and a lawyer who asked what a person must do to inherit eternal life.
The answer is connected with the two main commandments – to love God with all our heart and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In response to the question, “And who is my neighbor?” Christ told the story of a man who was attacked and beaten by robbers on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho.
A priest and a temple servant saw the injured man but passed him by. The Samaritan, however, stopped, bandaged his wounds with oil and wine, placed him on his animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. When Christ asked who was the neighbor of the man in distress, the lawyer replied: “The one who showed him mercy.” Then the Savior said: “Go and do likewise.”
“The human soul is Christian by nature. That is why it has its two most important directions – vertical and horizontal. The vertical direction is the elevation of this soul upward toward God, into communion with God, in love for God, in the search for God. The horizontal one is love for one’s neighbor,” Father Prodanov said, quoted by the Bulgarian News Agency.
“Brothers and sisters, who is our neighbor – everyone who has fallen into need, into distress,” the priest emphasized.
According to him, the parable remains a message for modern people as well, because true love is not exhausted by words. It is manifested through compassion, support and a willingness to lend a hand to those who are suffering.
Father Prodanov linked mutual human assistance with God’s love for people and recalled that Christ voluntarily went to the cross and shed his blood out of love for all humanity.
At the end of the service, the archpriest of the spiritual district wished the faithful a peaceful and spiritually fruitful Nativity Fast.
Sources: bntnews.bg, bnrnews.bg, utroruse.com