Friday, January 13, 2012

Do not stay away

Church is a dynamic environment. It is not one in which everything is governable by rules and protocols. Yes, there are such things as ‘the commandments of the Church’ though not every community has them or, if they do, makes them known. As I child I remember reading these ‘commandments’ in my prayer book. One of them was ‘to be present at mass on Sundays and all holy days of obligation.’ Perhaps Roman Catholics are familiar with this commandment. ‘Holy days of obligation’ for me has particularly the taste of Catholicism in the West. That was my childhood. Now, as an adult Christian in the Orthodox East, the phrase doesn’t come up, but sometimes the meaning is pushed just the same, only more subtly.

We know that there were saints who did not follow this prescripted pattern, their entire lives in regular orbit around the cycle of church services, fasts and feasts, yet the Church declares them saints anyway. People are tempted, I am tempted, to excuse myself, let myself ‘off the hook,’ sometimes too leniently, from attending divine services, not just on feast days (which often are at inconvenient hours) but even on Sundays. ‘I just want to stay at home today and read psalms and pray, and take selah.’ I am not ashamed to say this, because usually it’s true, but not always. Sometimes I just feel lazy. I’m getting old. Church services and activities are the social aspect of the Church, true, but not entirely dispensible.

For the Word of God declares, ‘Do not stay away from the meetings of the community, as some do, but encourage each other to go; the more so as you see the Day drawing near’ (Hebrews 10:25).

Notice, the apostle doesn’t say ‘Don’t miss a single divine service,’ but only ‘Do not stay away.’ There’s a gentleness in the way the Lord persuades us to stay connected. Of course, He shouldn’t have to persuade us at all, but He knows all men, He knows what we have to face in the world, and so He gently reasons with us, by the word of the holy apostles in scripture, and by the same gentle love of His ministers today.

Though we may be sheep that sometimes stray, if we know the Lord, we know His voice no matter who is speaking.
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3 comments:

  1. GretchenJoanna14/1/12 14:10

    Thank you, Romanós -- I love the way you bring every thought, and every part of life, under the captivity of Christ. I have often had to remind myself of the liberty that Christ and the Church give us. Yes, we do abuse it by our laziness, but that doesn't take away the beauty and the reality of His love being the primary thing.

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  2. Anonymous17/1/12 04:53

    I think there are four ways or reasons that we attend church or do anything in life. (1) We follow the rules, schedules, programs, etc., because we desire the good consequences and have a healthy fear the bad ones. (2) We have internalized the rules and we have become responsible, self-disciplined, self-propelled. (3) We know it is the right thing to do, because we have a conscience. (4) We simply love it.

    There were times in my life when I never missed a service: Sunday or weekday. I thrived on it. But, as you mentioned, getting older makes a difference. Just getting to church and back can be challenging if I am tired, have aches and pains, or if I did not get a good night's sleep. The driving, the traffic, the parking!

    I do not know how accountable we have to hold ourselves for situations or conditions beyond our control: like the logistics of it and the aging process. How does that go: the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak? I do not think it is wrong to live a modified version of desert spirituality as an alternative to communal worship--if that is the reality we are presented with, due to severe obstacles. It is better than risking a car accident, for example.

    Is it laziness, or humility: to recognize one's limitations and to compensate in some way? Church attendance is not dispensable, I agree, but love and mercy can still shine on any Sunday morning when we open the Bible and pray.

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  3. Ρωμανός ~ Romanós17/1/12 06:56

    Yes, indeed, 'love and mercy can still shine on any Sunday morning when we open the Bible and pray.'

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