Taken from here
The birthplace of the great Serbian scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla, the Lika village of Smiljan, was once again filled with Serbian Orthodox faithful and joy, because together with their diocesan hierarch, Bishop Gerasim of Gornji Karlovac, visiting this town was the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije.
The joy on His Holiness’ face was evident as he, together with Bishop Gerasim and Bishop Heruvim of Osijek and Baranja, many priests and faithful who came from all over to the native Smiljan, where His Holiness consecrated the restored church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the church where Nikola Tesla was baptized, after which the Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was served.
This very significant spiritual ceremony was attended by member of Parliament Dragana Jeckov, the president of the Serbian National Council, Professor Dr. Milorad Pupovac, Deputy Prefect of Lika-Senj County Milan Uzelac and Director of the Secretariat for Religions of Republika Srpska Dr. Dragan Davidovic.
His Holiness’ address to the gathered faithful:
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Lord has made us worthy today to come to this beautiful region, to this holy place, to celebrate the Holy Prophet Elijah, a man completely dedicated to God, both mind, heart, and body. He said what he felt and he did what he said. The most important thing we can have – as our example to be admired – is to have the faith of the prophet Elijah, it was due to that faith that the Lord made him worthy to manifest the power of God and perform great miracles, miracles which served as warnings, awakening and encouragement not only to keep the true of faith, but also to live according to that faith.
It’s very important – and we see this in the example of the Holy Prophet Elijah – that we know that what we believe determines our behavior, determines how we build our life, determines our relationships with each other. The one who has God as his Father, the one who knows that God is the Father of all creation and as the crown of creation, God is the father of mankind, such a person knows that there is one unique human race and that, precisely because He is one unique Father, all men are brothers. Only from an eternal perspective, through the prism of Christ – Christ and from His Gospel – can we, believing in His word, strive with our entire being to see each other as brothers, to see that we are all, regardless of how different we are, members of one body, members of the same body of the human race, created by God, that we are brothers with all people because we are all created in the image and likeness of God. If there is no perspective of eternity, if we don’t view history from this eternal perspective, rather our beginning and end we only have here and now, then of course our life begins and ends here and now and it also down to the rules which are created here and now . That’s why when we speak, when we act, think, regardless of the fact that we are weak and fall, we know that we are sinful and imperfect, we think and act with Christ, with the Gospel. For us, there is no answer to the question what we think about this or that topic. No, I think what Christ thinks or, better yet, I try with my whole being, despite the fact that I sway and despite the fact that I am sinful, and that I am egoistic, and vain, and self-loving… And despite all that, I try with my whole being to think with Christ, to act with Christ, because as we believe so we live. He who says: The end justifies the means cannot act in the same way. That’s his faith but in accordance with that faith he acts, lives, builds upon his life and relationships. The one who says: My neighbor is my brother, or: Love your neighbor as yourself – when we hear the Word of Christ – for such a person their life is arranged differently.
We have gathered here today, brothers and sisters, on the feast day of the Holy Prophet Elijah, to establish ourselves in our faith, that it not be merely declarative, that it is not be something we merely flaunt with our words, but to make that faith as active as possible in our life. We gathered, and the joy is great and this event is great, that we might consecrated this church dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. An ancient traveler writer wrote: I visited many places, many regions, met many people and saw that all people have their own stamp, their own uniqueness. And that is the charm and beauty of the human race, that all of us – each according to their own gift – enrich humanity, enrich one another and we are enriched by others. Therefore, I can perceive that as a gift from God, everyone has their own uniqueness, their own stamp, something that distinguishes them from other peoples, but there is one thing that is identical, that exists in all peoples – wherever I have been, I have not yet come across a place where it is not a place designated for a church, for prayer, and this applies to all nations. All nations have, says this ancient travel writer, a place they call a church, where they come to pray to God, to plan their physical, historical, transitory life with the metaphysical, eternal and imperishable ones, to design their life with human and divine values, to encounter themselves, meeting eternity and God. There is a place, therefore, in every nation where people come to turn to God individually, but also to gather together, to build communities around spiritual values. We consecrated this church dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the place where Orthodox Serbs in approximately the year 1600, since they settled in these parts of Lika, determined that this place be a place of prayer, a place of peace and love, to be a place for everyone individually to congregate and to collect oneself from the various and sundry brokenness and dissolution that every man is faced with in his individual life. We know how rare it is that we are in ourselves and with ourselves. This place was determined by Orthodox Serbs in this region to be a place to encounter God, a place where people could encounter one another and that they not only hear, but also that the commandment of Christ echoe in their hearts, that is, Christ’s call to love Him, our God, with our entire beings and other people as ourselves. Distraught and torn apart by various everyday concerns people would come here to find peace, peace in Christ, and then peace within and among themselves. The forces of history, of course, which don’t reconcile themselves to the word of Christ, wanted to eliminate this place, as well as many similar places in many nations, and so in 1941 this church was destroyed. It was destroyed by the Ustasha and many people were injured. 568 people were buried here in the cemetery! Five hundred and sixty-eight people suffered from this region! They rest next to the church they built to be their place of rest and peace. The church was rebuilt in 1986 then again in the 1990s it was destroyed and, glory be to God, rebuilt on the site where the first church was built in the 17th century, the church where, to say the least, the world-famous scientist Nikola Tesla was baptized, who was born in a house near here, and his father was a priest here. Baptized and sealed by Christ and the love of Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit, with his gift, but with enormous effort and work, he did a lot for which all of humanity is grateful even today and for generations. However, wherever he went and whatever he did, he never forgot these regions that were imprinted on him and his being, he never forget his Orthodox faith, the faith of his mother and father, the faith of his uncle who was the Orthodox Metropolitan of Sarajevo. He testified to that faith! He was aware that everything he did and had was a gift, and only because he knew that, he was able to produce what he produced and leave us with that gift in humility, in modesty, without a pursuit of worldly fame and power.
It is no coincidence that this church is dedicated to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. This is another message: two of the foremost apostles, one very very learned and educated both in faith and in the science of this world, in philosophy, while the other was a simple fisherman. Where there is real and true faith there is also love. The one who is more educated and learned is not better than the one who is not and vice versa. The poor is not better than the rich and vice versa. There, the one who has power is not more important than the one who doesn’t have it and vice versa. Where there is faith and love, there is the place and material that we offer to God’s grace for it to act. The Apostles Peter and Paul are different in everything and each in their own special way, yet still the same in one thing, in their love for Christ and in their faith in Him and the Gospel, – that it is not merely an empty and simple word – that you are blessed when you forgive, that you are blessed when you repent, when you change, that you are blessed when you do good, that you are blessed when you do not respond to an insult with an insult, that you are blessed when you do not avenge yourself. That’s the Gospel. It is not possible to do this on your own and with your own strength. I repeat, it’s always the fruit of God’s grace. Then when they insult me to respond with love. Of course I can’t help myself and my human anger, vindictiveness, maybe even my hatred will manifest in me. However, when I have faith in Christ and turn to Him with prayer and try to have love for Him, I open a place for Him to cleanse my soul, to transform me, to soothe my heart, to soften my thoughts, to make me a man. And so, the Apostles Peter and Paul, though different in everything, moreover, the Gospel even records that they were in disputes, quarreled, used harsh words in relation to each other, but since the framework of their existence was Christ, faith in Him and love for Him , regardless of the disputes, regardless of disagreements, quarrels, harsh words and sin, they always found a way to come to Christ and each other. This church, brothers and sisters, invites us to that. It calls us to faith in Christ, to love for Him. Since it bears the name of the Apostles Peter and Paul, it invites us to imitate their example, to follow in their footsteps, praying to them to have a deeper faith.
I invoke God’s blessing, peace and love on all of us gathered here, on all the people who live in this region, on all the people who live in this country, but also on the whole world. May we all glorify the Triune One: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen!
AGAIN AND AGAIN 