Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia stressed that forgiveness is a necessary condition for experiencing God’s mercy, during his sermon on Sunday, August 16, 2026, at the Church of Saint Sava in Vračar.
The Patriarch presided over the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and spoke after the Gospel reading on the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21–35).
“The Kingdom of God is forgiveness, the Kingdom of God is reconciliation, and the Kingdom of God is love,” Patriarch Porfirije said.
He explained that God is ready to forgive people for their failings, but recalled that the prayer “forgive us our debts” is followed by the words “as we forgive our debtors.”
According to the Patriarch, people often ask God for forgiveness and feel that they have received His mercy, but fail to show the same mercy to others.
“At the first opportunity, we display vanity and pride. We show that we lack mercy and behave arrogantly towards our neighbours,” he said.
Patriarch Porfirije underlined that Christians must forgive others from the heart, describing this as the place where God’s love and mercy are revealed.
“It is important and necessary to forgive everyone for everything in our hearts,” he said. “This is where God’s love, His all-forgiving grace and His mercy towards every failure, every fall and every sin are revealed.”
Concluding, the Patriarch prayed that the faithful would not resemble the servant whose debt of 10,000 talents was forgiven but who refused to forgive another person.
“May the Lord grant that we always forgive everyone for everything, so that He may not only forgive us, but also show us mercy, love us and embrace us infinitely more than we can imagine,” he said.
Concelebrating were retired Bishop Georgije of Canada, Archpriest Đorđe Stojisavljević, Head of the Office of the Serbian Patriarch, and other clergy.
Source: Serbian Orthodox Church
