Archbishop Joan's Message: If our heart is not purified, it cannot be enlightened

2025-12-14 15:24:00, Aktualitet CNA

Archbishop Joan's Message: If our heart is not purified, it cannot be

The Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and all of Albania, His Beatitude Joani, shared a message for all believers and not only during Sunday's Divine Liturgy.

The Archbishop focused on the teachings from today's Gospel, particularly related to this period of preparation before Christmas, which he described as a time when the heart is filled with love, because if our heart is not purified, it cannot be illuminated.

According to the Archbishop, at Christmas we truly feel that God has truly been born in our hearts because liturgical time transcends the time that people measure in hours and days.

"The Gospel is a medicine and it is a guide for each of us to be worthy to enter the kingdom. But to enter the kingdom, we must prepare. That is why today's gospel is a call. As will be the gospel that comes next Sunday, it is again a call for each of us to prepare. And to understand the importance of Christmas. Because Christmas cannot be understood without preparation. And if we celebrate it only from the outside, we have done nothing.

Because God does not need our food and drink. He needs the purity of our hearts and to respond to the great call that He makes to each of us. Today's Gospel shows exactly this. That God's call is universal. Everyone is called. Whoever they are. Worthy, unworthy, but in a deep religious sense, no one is completely worthy. The call to the kingdom is a gift from God. We enter there not simply by our merit. But we enter by the love of God. And only by living a religious life can we understand this. And by understanding this we will be humble. And our heart will be filled with love. And love will bring joy to our lives.

Without us, let us try to respond to the call of God. In less than two weeks, we await the birth of Christ. And how will each of us await Him spiritually? Only by preparing to purify his soul. Because God cannot dwell in a heart that is not pure. Nothing unclean can sanctify a person. And God cannot dwell in a dirty heart, says the Holy Scripture. And the purification of the heart is the deepest spiritual life and the greatest effort of every person. Because by purifying his heart he is healed. And by being healed, he will become... will be transformed, he will become a person who is not only illuminated within himself, but has the power to illuminate others as well. Because an extinguished lamp does not shine. Let it be filled with oil. If it does not light up, the lamp does not shine. The same thing is with our heart. If our heart is not purified, it cannot be enlightened. And the enlightenment of the heart is exactly what God wants.

And the Lord came precisely for this. He took our fallen body, to raise it up again. And this is the saving work. That is why we call Christ the Savior, because he saved us from something that we could not save ourselves. And if we do not feel this salvation in our personal lives, I want to emphasize this, it is very difficult to follow this path. Only people who have tasted God, yearn for God. 'Taste God and see that he is good,' says the psalmist. And the call that God makes to us is precisely for this. Participation in the great supper is precisely participation in the kingdom. But this always requires preparation. Let us try to prepare ourselves. And purify our hearts.

So that at Christmas we can truly feel that God has truly been born in our hearts. Because liturgical time transcends the time that people measure. There are two moments of time. There is time, the seconds, minutes, hours that pass, which is neutral. But there is another time, a liturgical time. Even in art, this is liturgical time. Where people are inspired to do something. It is a time that is not measured in seconds, but is measured with a deep sensitivity. Therefore, the spiritual life and the preparation that God requires of us is precisely for us to enter the liturgical time, to taste the sweetness of God. And this preparation will bring fruit. And from these fruits, the first to taste will be the people themselves. And through them, many people around them will taste it too, "said the Archbishop. /CNA