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The Liturgy that Matters Most

Human beings are innately liturgical creatures, woven with a profound spiritual thread that draws us toward communal worship. We possess a deep-seated yearning within our souls to assemble together for the sacred work of offering prayer and devotion to God with one voice and one heart. This fundamental aspect of our humanity manifests so essentially that when authentic liturgy is absent from our lives, we inevitably seek substitutes to fill this spiritual void. As Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds us, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.”

Various secular gatherings—rock concerts, political rallies, social protests, and sporting events—all bear the unmistakable hallmarks of liturgical practice. At these events, people congregate in designated spaces for shared purposes and experiences. They unite their voices in songs and chants, perform synchronized physical gestures, and participate in communal rituals that reinforce their collective identity and belonging. The parallels to religious liturgy are striking and reveal our inherent need for sacred community.

This observation isn’t meant to discourage participation in such cultural events. By all means, attend sporting competitions, concerts, and other gatherings that interest you and bring joy to your life. However, it’s crucial to maintain perspective about what these experiences offer. While secular gatherings may indeed celebrate important dimensions of human existence and community, they ultimately provide only a partial reflection of our complete humanity.

There exists only one Liturgy that enables us to participate in the fullness of human life in its most transcendent sense. As Psalm 36:9 beautifully expresses, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” The Divine Liturgy, celebrating our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, connects us directly with the source of all light and life itself. It’s through this sacred Communion that we experience not just an echo of transcendence but genuine participation in the Divine life.

The Divine Liturgy stands apart because it doesn’t merely commemorate human achievement or cultural identity but invites us into relationship with the Creator who fashioned us for communion with Himself. In this sacred assembly, we don’t simply encounter feelings of transcendence but encounter the transcendent One who gives meaning to all other human experiences and gatherings. This liturgical participation fulfills our deepest spiritual longings in ways that even the most meaningful secular gatherings cannot ultimately satisfy.

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Our Christ-Like Responses

In the Gospels, Jesus only answers the questions of people who are sincerely asking. To people who come to try to trip him up, people who just want to argue and debate, he doesn’t offer an answer. This is our example for what to do when people want to debate points of faith with us.

Christianity, is not about debating it is about encountering the living Christ and the transformative power of his gospel. And that can only happen with a heart that’s open.

So to those who come to us with questions with an open mind and an open heart. Yes, let’s do our best to offer them a response, or to find somebody who can answer the questions. To those who just want to get into verbal jousting matches, we can save our breath, our time, and our energy.

However, it’s important to remember that even those who seem to be antagonistic may be doing so out of a place of hurt or confusion. Perhaps they’ve had negative experiences with the Church or with people who say they’re Christians, and they’re lashing out as a result. Or maybe they’ve simply never been exposed to a loving and compassionate understanding of the faith. As a result, it’s always be helpful to approach these conversations with empathy and understanding, rather than defensiveness or judgment. We can listen to their concerns, validate their feelings, and offer them a gentle and respectful response.

​Of course, there will always be those who are simply looking for a fight. But even in these situations, we can choose to respond with love and grace. This is the most Christ-like response of all. We can pray for them, and we can trust that God will work in their hearts in His own time. In the meantime, we can focus on living out our faith in a way that is both authentic and inviting. By showing others the love of Christ through our words and our deeds, we can draw them closer to Him.

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Selfless Love in Action

Agape is selfless love – a love that seeks nothing for itself and gives everything for the sake of the other. This is the love of Christ, who gave up his own life so that we may live forever.

True selfless love goes beyond seeking recognition for what we have done or expecting gratitude or repayment in return. It is not a tool to leverage favors in the future, nor is it reserved for those who have earned our affection in the past. Instead, genuine selfless love flows freely, reflecting the boundless and unconditional love of God. It means acting because we recognize a divine opportunity to reflect the love of Jesus Christ – a love that calls us to care for others as He has cared for us.

When we embrace this kind of love, our actions and words become a living testimony of Christ’s love. As we show kindness, extend forgiveness, or offer help to others, we open the door for them to encounter Christ’s presence through us. As 1 John 4:19 reminds us, “We love because He first loved us.” This truth underscores the foundation of our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.

To bear the name of Christ is to carry His love into the world. It is to make visible the invisible God by allowing His love to shine through our deeds, even when no one notices or thanks us. In doing so, we fulfill His command to love others as He has loved us. By being ambassadors of his Christ’s this love, we glorify Him and share the hope of salvation with others.

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Pay Attention to These Things

There are a number of times in the Old Testament when God condemns Israel for their sins. And he says, “Because of your sins, the land is defiled.” 

In Hosea 4:1-3, we read, “Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: ‘There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.'”
What we focus our attention on matters… immensely. We give agency to the things we are most attentive to. These things gain a place of primacy in our minds and hearts. Eventually they shape our worldview and our character. By extension, our worldview and character impact our relationships with others, with our environment, and of course with God.

When we focus on toxic things, anger and bitterness and revenge and jealousy and all of these things, that has a negative impact on our hearts, on our families, on our communities, and on the world itself. So we need to focus on life-giving things. When Dostoevsky said that “beauty will save the world,” this is what he was talking about.

If we want to make the world a better place, we can start by paying attention to what St. Paul says in Philippians 4: whatever is good, whatever is holy, whatever is honorable, whatever is true, he says, “Meditate upon these things.” Pay attention to these things.

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Learning the Language of Eastern Orthodoxy

One of the things that can make Eastern Orthodoxy challenging for people in the West to understand is its distinctly Eastern character. Our ancient Christian tradition emerges from cultures that are profoundly different from the post-Enlightenment West, with its emphasis on individualism and rationalism. 

For example, visitors to Orthodox churches often feel uneasy watching Orthodox faithful kiss icons, crosses, and the Gospel book. To Western eyes, such actions might seem strange or overly intimate. Within historically Orthodox cultures—many of which are deeply communal and emotionally expressive—this is a natural way to demonstrate love and reverence. For these cultures, there is nothing more natural than showing veneration for the scriptures, the cross, or the saints through such acts of devotion. 

Learning Orthodox Christianity is like learning a new language. It requires becoming familiar not only with the vocabulary but also with the “grammar” and “syntax” of the Faith. Only then does it start to really make sense.

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“Concerning the whole”

In the creed, we defined the churches Catholic. This comes from the Greek word “katholike,” meaning “concerning the whole.” The church preaches the whole Gospel, to the whole of humanity, throughout the whole span of history.

Preaching the Gospel “as a whole” means that we need to look at the entire scriptures as a single unit. We do not focus on one book, one chapter, one verse. Everything is looked at within the context of the broader message. We interpret everything with a “concern for the whole” story.

Consider, for example, what Saint Paul says to the Christians of Corinth: “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” (I Corinthians 4:14)

Paul clearly identifies himself as the father of the Christians of Corinth. But what about what Christ says in the Gospel of Matthew: “Call no man father?” How do we reconcile Jesus’ teaching in Matthew with the apostle identifying himself as “Father Paul” to the Christians of Corinth?

St Paul does this because he understands that there’s a specific context for the teaching, “Call no man father.” There are times when it is completely appropriate to call our spiritual leaders, “Father.” This is a term that has been used for clergy — beginning with bishops, and later priests — for centuries in the Christian Church.

When we look at the teaching, “Call, no man father,” or any teaching of Christ in the Gospels, we need to interpret it through the wider context of Church life, including the wider context of scriptures. “Call no man father” in Matthew is correctly understood within this broader framework. (Like Paul identifying himself as the Father of the Corinthian Christians, or the multiple times our spiritual forebears are called “father” and “fathers” in the Book of Acts.)

St. Ignatius Brianchaninov said:

“When on a clear fall night I gaze upon the clear heavens, illumined by innumerable stars that send out a single light, then I say to myself: thus are the writings of the holy fathers. When on a summer’s day I gaze upon the wide sea, covered with a multitude of distinct waves, driven by a single wind to a single end, a single pier, then I say to myself: such are the writings of the fathers. When I hear a well-ordered choir, in which different voices sing a single hymn in shimmering harmony, then I say to myself: such are the writings of the fathers.”

In the Orthodox church, it’s not the voice of the soloist that we listen for, it’s the collective voice of the choir — of the saints, of the scriptures, of the liturgical texts, of the sacred art… all of these things proclaiming with one voice, the truth of Christ.

The word “heresy” comes from a Greek word meaning to pick and choose. If you pick and choose versus from the scriptures or quotes from the Fathers, you can string together whatever teaching you want. This is not what we’re interested in. We’re interested in the collective voice, we have a “concern with for whole.” Because when the Church speaks “with one mouth and one heart,” she declares the truth that will set us free.

Love in Christ,
+FrAJ