Draw near

There is no struggle in the Church for us, if we just keep our eyes on Jesus, and take care not to walk ourselves into trouble.

Ecclesiastes says, ‘When you go to the Temple, be on your guard. Go near so you can hear. The offering is more valuable than the sacrifice of fools, even if they are unaware of doing wrong.’

In other words—and this is from King Solomon in the pre-Christian days, how wise!—don't let anything the pious and God-fearing Christians do in church or out, good or bad, wreck the work of God in you, or for you in them.

Just go near, whatever that looks like to you or anyone. Just go near, so you can hear. He is always there for us, and when we ‘draw near’ as the deacon announces while holding up the Divine Mysteries of the Body and Blood, we are not just physically coming up to partake bodily of a spiritual food. We are drawing near to His eternal presence, out of which we can never walk, without walking into nowhere.