Let us maintain our spiritual relationships at this time of increased pandemic wave and let us stay close to each other with our heart and prayers.
Archbishop Anastasios’ word at the end of the Divine Liturgy, on the first Sunday of Luke (The Miracle of the fish, and the first Apostles), in the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral. Tirana, 27.09.2020.
Let us not worry and let us maintain the positivity and optimism in the face of every challenge, difficulty or pain as well as in this situation of the coronavirus, His Beatitude Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and all Albania claimed in his word delivered to the faithful who were gathered in the Resurrection of Christ Church in Tirana. His Beatitude commented on the excerpt from the Apostle of that day. He highlighted some of the characteristics that apostle Paul mentions in his second epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 6, lines 1 to 10. He emphasized that such characteristics build the identity of every christian in our world. They stand true not only for the clergy but also for every christian wherever he or she might be.
Also he added that as we leave the church today, after the end of the divine liturgy, we should take with us some special moments from our experience in church. It is important also to find some quiet moments during the day and to read attentively and carefully the excerpt from today’s epistle which is the second one of Apostle Paul delivered to the Corinthians, chapter 6. The lines can be found in the little church calendar where the identity of every christian is described.
So, the apostle tells us: “Please do not accept the Divine Grace in vain”. And he continues to say ”in everything we do, we should behave as servants of God” And this is not something pertaining only to the clergy but it involves all the orthodox faithful, because it is important that we behave as servants of God in every situation. And this should not happen only during the official worship but in any time. And the apostle describes very vividly the role model of the good servant of God. As he says, the first thing a christian should have is lots of patience. A christian should face the hardships with lots of patience. He or she must be patient in front of every need, difficulty, or monotony. Such is the today situation of the coronavirus. The second thing a christian should have is pure love or non hypocritical love that does not boast about itself but is humble in spirit. And finally the christian should hold the holy spirit inside which means that he or she should not be based on his or her own personal strength but in the holy grace that comes from God.
So, let us maintain our patience, pure love and the holy spirit in our lives. Let us not worry in the face of hardships because they exist in order to encourage us to move forward and not to hinder us. And let us continue our spiritual struggle with strength and hope. Finally, due to the increase in the pandemic wave, let us keep the physical distance but maintain our spiritual link with each other and keep each other in our heart and prayer as Archbishop Anastasios claimed.
