An Orthodox worship service is not about making you feel comfortable in church. It is not about educating you, amusing you, or entertaining you. It is not about converting you, not about evangelizing you; there are six other days a week for that. It is not about using you to grow the Church. It is not about making you feel good, giving you an emotional high so you will say you have been "fed". It is not about inspiring you or comforting you or encouraging you. It is not about making beliefs or practices seem more palatable to you. It isn't about giving you pointers for a more successful life. Although some of these things do happen in an Orthodox service, the fact is, it isn't about you at all.
It's about God, the Holy Trinity, as revealed in Jesus Christ. It's about God and what sort of worship best pleases HIM. It's about remembering all His kindnesses and infinite mercies, His miracles, and all He has accomplished for our salvation. It's about acknowledging Him, about praising and thanking and blessing and petitioning and glorifying Him. It's about singing and praying to Him. It's about offering ourseles, each other, our whole lives, one another, and our world back to Him. It's about communing with Him, sharing in His mystical Body and Blood.
That's Who it is all about.
It's about God, the Holy Trinity, as revealed in Jesus Christ. It's about God and what sort of worship best pleases HIM. It's about remembering all His kindnesses and infinite mercies, His miracles, and all He has accomplished for our salvation. It's about acknowledging Him, about praising and thanking and blessing and petitioning and glorifying Him. It's about singing and praying to Him. It's about offering ourseles, each other, our whole lives, one another, and our world back to Him. It's about communing with Him, sharing in His mystical Body and Blood.
That's Who it is all about.
4 comments:
well said!
Angela
Amen, amen, amen!!
Precisely!
Now: when are you and Dr. Demetri coming to visit us in Newfoundland?
You can come and not (necessarily) be educated, evangelized or converted at our little mission and we can worship together!
Thank you, my friends, Matushka, we would adore visiting you in Newfoundland. Our prayers are with your mission. I think net year, though, Russia has made it to he top of our list.
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