Sunday before Theophany/ Archbishop Joan: Let us speak the truth with love

2026-01-04 11:38:00, Aktualitet CNA

This Sunday at the "Resurrection of Christ" Cathedral in Tirana, Archbishop Joan celebrated the Sunday Mass before Theophany and delivered a powerful message to the faithful.

Archbishop Joan emphasized the importance of repentance and spiritual preparation to await the Lord.

He recalled that Saint John the Baptist teaches us to speak the truth with love and to turn towards God, opening our hearts to His grace.

“Saint John the Baptist teaches us to speak the truth with love and to return to God.”

Archbishop Joan's message was a call for humility and love, letting God's grace animate the soul and bring spiritual fruit to daily life.

“Through repentance and humility, the grace of God quickens the soul and brings forth the fruits of love.”

The faithful who attended the Mass, both in the cathedral and via live broadcast, spiritually prepared for the Theophany, accepting the holy message of Saint John the Baptist and the call of Archbishop Joan.

Archbishop Joan's message

The Church's liturgical calendar, if followed daily, helps us understand why the Church has constructed this calendar. The Church sees human life as a journey, not only physical, but also spiritual. Through the liturgical calendar we begin a journey to commune with God and to follow His path.

Therefore, before every great feast, the Church prepares us. Before Christmas we have a preparatory Sunday and a reflection after Christmas. The same thing happens for Epiphany or Theophany, known in the vernacular as the Blessing of Water. The Church has a preparatory Sunday before this great event.

The Gospel chosen for this day is from the Gospel of Mark, which begins with the appearance of Christ in his public life and in his preaching. The Gospels do not all begin in the same way: the Gospel of John begins with the mystery of the eternal God; the Gospel of Luke with the birth of Christ; the Gospel of Matthew with Abraham and the genealogy. All of these give us a complete picture of who Jesus is: eternal God, but also the One who appeared among us.

Today’s Gospel begins with two prophecies: one from the prophet Malachi and one from the prophet Isaiah, about the coming of Saint John the Baptist. Malachi calls him an angel, while Isaiah says that he will announce the preparation of the people to await the Messiah. These are very important for us too, because God, in the economy of salvation, prepared the people for a long time so that they would be ready to hear the final message: that God became man to resurrect us.

The central message of this Gospel is that of Saint John the Baptist. He was an ascetic, a man who was not interested in material things or in the opinions of men. He said what God said, in the tradition of the ancient prophets of Israel, who always began with the words: “Thus says the Lord.”

St. John was not afraid of people, because he feared God. He preached without compromise, telling the truth, not what people wanted to hear. This is very important even today, because often people do not tell the truth for fear of the opinion of others. But God teaches us to tell the truth in love.

St. John's rebuke was not to condemn, but to heal and help people. He addressed the Pharisees and scribes first, making them aware that they too needed repentance. For we all need to repent; there is no one who does not fall into sin.

The sermon of Saint John begins with the word: “Repent.” Repentance is essential in the Orthodox Church. Sin is not simply a violation of the rules, but a breakdown in the relationship with God. Repentance is not just an admission of error, but a complete conversion and a radical change of life.

Repentance requires humility. The proud man does not repent because he thinks that others are to blame. That is why the preaching of Saint John the Baptist is so important: he showed people concretely how to live righteously, each according to his own situation.

The prophet Isaiah describes Saint John as “a voice crying in the wilderness.” This wilderness is not only the physical one, but also the world of today, where the voice of God is rarely heard, and also the wilderness of the human soul, when it is filled with noise, pride, and passions.

For the soul not to remain a desert, it must hear the voice of the Lord. The Word of God is like water that revives the earth and makes it bear fruit. A soul that repents softens, changes and begins to bear fruit of love.

Repentance comes from great love for God. Love not only saves a person, but also helps others to be saved. For he who has love does not rejoice at the fall of another, but is grieved and prays for him.

Today's Gospel is a call for each of us to prepare our hearts to wait for the Lord, to allow Him to enter our lives. To hear His knock, we need spiritual peace.

The Church constantly reminds us of this, because this is the path to salvation. We all need repentance. By humbling ourselves, God's grace comes, and His grace enlivens the desert of our soul.

Amen./ CNA