Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel delivered a sermon on spiritual priorities and moral values during a festive Divine Liturgy at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in the town of Svoge, warning against replacing enduring spiritual truths with temporary worldly concerns.

Addressing worshippers, Patriarch Daniel reflected on the Gospel teaching, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you,” saying it establishes a “correct hierarchy of values” for human life.

He noted that contemporary society often reverses this order, prioritizing material success while neglecting the spiritual dimension. According to the patriarch, a person’s inner spiritual state ultimately shapes the quality and direction of their entire life.

A central theme of the sermon was how individuals perceive the world around them. Patriarch Daniel referred to the Gospel image of the “healthy and the unhealthy eye,” explaining that a faith-filled outlook brings clarity and light to life, while unbelief and inner distortion lead to spiritual darkness.

The patriarch also spoke about human temptation, referencing the biblical account of the Fall, and emphasized that spiritual struggle is often rooted in the substitution of trust in God with false promises. In this context, he cited Christ’s teaching that one cannot serve both “God and mammon,” stressing that every person ultimately makes a defining choice about what they serve in life.

Patriarch Daniel placed particular emphasis on loyalty, integrity, and mutual support in human relationships, describing them as values “more precious than any material wealth.” He pointed to examples of family devotion and self-sacrifice in difficult circumstances as genuine expressions of love and sources of moral strength.

Warning against allowing earthly concerns to become the sole purpose of life, the patriarch said people may dedicate themselves to work, property, and securing their children’s future, but risk losing what is most essential: faith, love, and moral formation.

“If we seek first earthly things, we risk losing both them and the spiritual life,” he said. “But if we seek the Kingdom of God, we gain both grace and inner fullness.”