Saturday, December 28, 2013

On the Fourth Day of Christmas


By now, your children have played with every toy, eaten every piece of Christmas candy, and have almost forgotten they were in school just over a week ago. The days following Christmas are traditionally spent enjoying time together after the busyness of the holidays. Depending upon the weather conditions in your area, you may want to go out and get some fresh air today. Choose something to get your blood flowing if you’re feeling the Christmas blues.

Whether you go outside today or not, don’t forget tomorrow is Sunday and there is Divine Liturgy in your Church. A “tradition” I am NOT AT ALL comfortable with is the idea that the Sunday after Christmas is a day off from Church, as if going to Church midweek somehow takes the place of tomorrow’s Liturgy. The same thing happens every year the Sunday after Pascha. I never could understand why people felt this way.

The only reason I can think of, is that people normally DON’T WANT to be in Church. If they HAVE to come to Church on a Wednesday ‘just because’ it’s Christmas, that allows for a free pass on Sunday. If you think about it, this is understandable. We will do our best to avoid things we don’t like, so any opportunity to miss Church is welcomed….that is, of course, if you don’t like being in Church.

So how do you make yourself “like” being in Church? Begin with understanding the Liturgy and how you can participate. I have found the number one reason people don’t like being in Church is; they are disconnected to what is happening.

Here is a two-part video of a class I held several years ago about the Divine Liturgy and How to Live it. Maybe this will help…


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