On Sunday, August 30, Bishop Panaretos of Tamiathis, Patriarchal Exarch of Lithuania, celebrated the Liturgy at the Annunciation parish in Vilnius, where the congregation is mainly made up of Belarusian faithful.
In a spirit of deep devotion, the church choir sang the hymns melodiously, accompanied by Fr. Georgios Roy, who is responsible for the Belarusian community in the area.
In his sermon, Bishop Panaretos stressed that shared faith unites people of different languages and national backgrounds, noting that the Belarusians living in Lithuania are called to preserve their Orthodox spiritual identity while also participating actively and harmoniously in the life of the local society.
The text of the sermon follows:
“God Never Abandons His Vineyard”
Sermon – 13th Sunday of Matthew
My beloved brothers and sisters,
In today’s Gospel, Christ speaks to us about a man who planted a vineyard. He fenced it in, tended it, prepared everything necessary, and then entrusted it to people to cultivate it.
Usually, when we hear this parable, we focus on the farmers and their behavior. Today, however, I would like us to focus more on the landowner himself and on the vineyard itself. This man planted something with love. He tended it. He did not abandon it. He waited to see it grow and bear fruit. And this image can tell us something today that is very simple, yet very important: God never abandons those He loves.
And God loves humanity. He loves us when everything in our life is going well, but also when everything suddenly changes. He loves us when we are at home, among our own people, but also when life leads us far away and we must start again from the beginning.
Many of you know very well what it means to leave one’s homeland. To be separated from beloved people. To leave one’s home. The familiar streets. The places where one grew up. Those small everyday things that one once took for granted. And suddenly to find oneself in a new place, where so much has to begin again.
Life brought you here, to the hospitable country of Lithuania, which received you and became for you a new place to live. But this does not mean that a person forgets their homeland. We carry our homeland within our hearts. We carry our own people, our memories, our language, everything we loved, even the things that are sometimes difficult to explain to others. And perhaps at times, within this new life, a question arises in a person’s heart: “Where is my home now? Where is my place?”
And today the Church wants to give you a very simple answer: Here, you are not strangers. Within the Church, no one should feel like a stranger. Because before the country we come from, before the language we speak, before the place where we live today, there is something much deeper that unites us: We are all children of the same God. And this is why the Church must be the place where a person can feel once again that they have a home. A home where they can pray. A home where someone will listen to them. A home where they can bring their joy, but also their pain. A home where they don’t constantly need to explain who they are and where they come from. Because within the Church, the answer is already known: You are a child of God. You are our brother. You are our sister. This is your home.
And here the image of the vineyard from today’s Gospel becomes even more beautiful. When a plant is transplanted into new soil, it needs time. It does not take root in a single day. It needs care. It needs patience. It needs water and sun. At first it may seem weak. But little by little it begins to spread its roots again. And one day it begins to bear fruit once more.
This is often what happens with people too. One may have to leave a place they loved and find themselves in another. To rebuild their life. To make new friendships. To learn a new language. To grow accustomed to a different society. To create a new home. But this does not mean that their previous life was lost. And even less does it mean that God abandoned them.
God can give us new roots without asking us to forget the old ones. We can love our homeland and, at the same time, come to love the place that received us. We can hold in our hearts the people who are far away and, at the same time, open our hearts to the people God brings near to us today. Life goes on.
And Christ continues to walk with us. The country may change. The home may change. The language we hear around us every day may change. Many things we once considered constant may change. But Christ does not change. And this is perhaps one of the greatest comforts of our faith. Wherever we find ourselves, He is already there. We do not need to seek Him only in the homeland we left behind. Christ was there with us, and He is here with us.
And so today I also want to say a few words from my heart: The Church is near you. I want your community to never feel alone. I want to know your joys, your difficulties, your families, all that concerns and troubles you. We cannot always solve every problem a person faces. But sometimes a person needs something very simple: to know that someone is beside them. To know that there is a door that can be opened. That there is a church they can come to. That there is a community that will receive them. That there is someone who will listen to what is in their heart. And soon, when we stand before the Holy Chalice, we will have before us the most beautiful answer to the question: “Where is my place? To whom do I belong?” We belong to Christ.
Before the Holy Chalice there are no strangers. There are no refugees and no locals. There are no people of first and second class. There are children of the same God, who come to the same Table and receive the same Christ. This is the Church. One great family, in which we may speak different languages, have different histories and different homelands, but we have one Christ, one faith, and one hope.
Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, I would like you today to keep a simple thought in your hearts: Do not lose hope. Even if you had to start again from the beginning. Even if today some things are difficult. Even if sometimes your heart returns to your homeland, to your own people, to those you love who are far away. God has not forgotten you. The vineyard of your life still remains in His hands. And with time, with patience, faith, and love, it can bring forth new branches and new fruit once again. Let us keep our homeland in our hearts. Let us be grateful to hospitable Lithuania, which has become a new home for so many. Let us support one another. And above all, let us keep Christ among us. For a person may find themselves in a different place, but God never changes His love for humanity. And wherever Christ is, there is always a way to begin again. Amen.
