In the days following the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the Church reminds us of the events that are also related to this great feast.
He spoke about this at the Holy Liturgy today in the Church of St. Nicholas, after the reading of the Gospel according to Matthew (Genesis 4 (2,13-23) by the hierarchal vicar of Kotor-Tivat, parish priest of Kotor, archpriest-staurophor Nemanja Krivokapić.
"During the post-holiday and pre-holiday of the great holidays, we remember the events that took place on that day. Today we hear about the events that took place after the birth of Jesus Christ, or rather what the first days were like at that time when the Little God was born.
We see that they immediately had to flee to a neighboring country, that the emperor killed 14,000 innocent little children, in order to be sure that he had also killed Christ, whom he did not kill in the end, but those children suffered martyrdom, neither guilty nor guilty," said Fr. Nemanja.
From today's Gospel, as he indicated, we see that nothing was accidental, but was prophesied in the Old Testament and that it happened by God's providence, adding that the fact that so many children were killed is terrible, but when we look at it from our human perspective.
"From a divine perspective, where are we on earth to deserve the Kingdom of Heaven, that eternal Kingdom with God, then it makes sense. Today, 2,000 years later, we celebrate them as saints. So, the souls of those children are not only saved, but they are also holy, and that is the essence of our life," said Father Nemanja.
This Sunday, he reminded, is called the Sunday of the Godfathers.
"Just as in the pre-Christmas season we remembered those fathers who were glorified by their faith, today we remember the saints who lived according to Christ, with a Christian life, glorified themselves as Christians, which is very important for us so that we can emulate the lives of those saints and so that, looking to them, we may gain salvation. It is also important, and here we are in these days after Christmas, the Church constantly reminds us that for centuries and centuries before Christ, many people lived, that many of them were saved, not in the way we are saved today, as God Himself taught us, but that He also devised a way for them to be saved, through the faith they kept, faith in the true God. Thus, in today's troparions and church hymns, King David is mentioned first of all, but also Joseph the Betrothed and his son, and brother by the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Apostle James, Bishop of Jerusalem,” said Father Nemanja.
Joseph, he continued, is mentioned as his father, although James did not know that he was not. He was not physically his father. He was only the betrothed of the Mother of God, but the people thought that he was his father and the Lord Jesus Christ respected him as such.
And, likewise, we remember Joseph's son. This is James, who later was an apostle and preached the word of God.
Thus, we remember that the Lord Jesus Christ, if He had a father and if He had a brother, in addition to being God, was also a man. As a man, as a concrete historical figure here on earth, he suffered, but as God he also rose again and granted us eternal life.
This reminds us that we humans, having human nature, also have the task of deifying ourselves, of uniting with God through the holy mysteries that He gives us, primarily through the Holy Mystery of Communion. To unite with God, deify ourselves, and thus deserve the Kingdom of God,” said, among other things, Father Nemanja.
Gospel of Matthew, Genesis 4 (2:13-23)
13. And when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and be there until I tell you; for Herod will search for the child to destroy him.” 14. And he arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt. 15. And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. 16. Then Herod, when he saw that he was outwitted of the wise men, was exceedingly wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the male children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained of the wise men. 17. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, 18. A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 19. And when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20. And he said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21. And he arose, took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there; but being warned in a dream, he withdrew into the parts of Galilee. 23. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.