The Third Service of the Groom/ Message of Archbishop Joan: True Repentance is the Path to Salvation

2026-04-07 20:56:00, Aktualitet CNA

The Third Service of the Groom/ Message of Archbishop Joan: True Repentance is

At the conclusion of the third Service of the Bridegroom, Archbishop Joan conveyed a strong spiritual message, focusing on two contrasting biblical figures: the repentant sinner and the traitor Judas.

Archbishop Joan emphasized that these two examples reflect two contrasting spiritual states, where a woman found salvation through deep repentance, while one of the apostles lost it due to betrayal and pride.

His Beatitude Joan emphasized that sin in the Orthodox faith is not simply a violation of the rules, but a breakdown of the relationship with God, harming the very being of man.

In this context, repentance is considered a profound process of change, which goes beyond regret and aims to restore this relationship.

His Beatitude John highlighted that people often have the courage to sin, but feel ashamed to repent, emphasizing that the opposite should happen: shame for sin and courage for repentance.

Referring to the example of the sinner who poured myrrh on Christ, Archbishop Joan said that true repentance brings liberation and spiritual joy, while false repentance, like that of Judas, leads to despair.

In conclusion, Archbishop Joan called on believers to follow the path of humility and repentance, as the way to achieve forgiveness and union with God.

Archbishop Joan's message

On the third and final day of the Bridegroom's ministry, there are some very important spiritual topics. We spoke the first two days about several topics, which have subtopics and it would take a very long time to talk about them all, but I would like to focus on two very important things today: the repentant sinner and the betrayal of Judas.

Two completely different people, two completely different spiritual states, and they contrast how a sinful woman found salvation and one of the disciples, one of the apostles, lost it. These make us think about some themes of our lives: what is sin, what is repentance, the infinite love of God, freedom.

Let's start with sin. Sin in the Orthodox Church is not just a simple violation of a commandment or a violation of a word, it is something deeper and more serious: it is the breaking of a relationship, when people break their relationship with God. And by breaking that relationship we damage our very existence, because being good and becoming like God is not just a purely ethical issue, it is an ontological issue, it is our being that is damaged and distorted. That is why sin is so very serious.

But God has also given repentance. And repentance is something very important, and repentance in the Orthodox Church is not just regret for what we may have done. Repentance is a very important decision to change our entire way of living and thinking. It is not just "we made a mistake, we pay the fine and we are clean", it is the adjustment and restoration of a relationship with God.

But people often have the courage to sin, as Saint John Goyard says, and then they have the shame to repent. It should be the opposite: we should have the shame to sin and the courage to repent. But the evil one reverses this value: he encourages people, gives them the courage to sin, and then gives them the feeling of shame to repent.

If we repent, it is not shameful. The proud are ashamed of that. Humble people admit their mistake very quickly, therefore they can repent and through repentance they can achieve salvation, like the woman of today. She poured a very precious ointment on the body of the Lord and with her hair began to wipe his feet. Many people around, including the disciples, thought why was such a large amount of money, such a wealth, wasted, and could be given to the poor, while she did it for God. The Lord says: "You will always have the poor with you, but this woman's deed will be remembered forever." As long as the gospel is spread everywhere, this deed will always be remembered.

Why did God exalt this so high? Because she repented deeply and is an example of repentance for each of us. In the psalms of David there is a very important word: it says that "I will pour out my bitterness before God."

What does this mean?

It is precisely that bitterness of repentance that we pour out before God when we truly break the vessel of our heart that has been hardened by sins, by pride, and pour it out before God. It will free us, it will liberate us, bitterness will leave the soul and joy will come, because the courage that repentance brings also gives joy.

True repentance is not sad, it is a sadness that also has joy within it. The repentance of the proud is sad, it turns into despair. Judas betrayed God out of greed and greed and killed himself out of pride. It is a repentance of the proud where a person thinks like this, says: "How did I get here?". He is not focused on God, he is focused on himself and this repentance is a demonic repentance.

True repentance is from humility. That is why today's lesson is very important for each of us and reminds us all that let us be ashamed of sin and have the courage to repent. For if we will break the vessel of our heart and pour out our mental grace before Christ, He will forgive us and restore us again.

Let us pray to God to give us this courage and continue the path of repentance, for through repentance we can reach communion with the living God. Amen!/ CNA