The Divine Liturgy and Our Worship of God — 20160731

Holy Eucharist IconAfter we, as the Church, lift up our hearts, we are called to give thanks to the Lord. Our response is to state quite specifically our belief that it is proper and just to worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By stating this, we declare our belief that it is within the very nature of humankind to worship God and that the God we worship is a Trinity of Persons. The priest prays during this declaration about the appropriateness of our worship, that it is truly proper and just to

  • sing hymns to God
  • bless God
  • praise God
  • thank God
  • worship God

 

in every place of His Kingdom. This tells us that indeed all that we do during the Divine Liturgy is truly in accord with what we, as humans, must do in our relationship to God.

The portion of the priestly prayer said silently during this time declares Who we believe God to be. The God we worship and thank is: ineffable, and also inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible. He is ever-existing, yet ever the same. These are truly magnificent declarations of what we believe our God to be like.

As the priest continues this prayer, he expresses our belief about what our God has done. The priest prays that God has brought us forth from nonexistence into being and raised us up again when we had fallen and left nothing undone until You brought us to heaven and bestowed upon us Your future kingdom. This is the true story of salvation. It is all about the positive work of God within creation. He gave us free will and He has also done everything possible to make sure we, in cooperation with His Spirit, can come to a deeper union with Him without violating our free will.

It is our belief that God does not force us to love Him or achieve union with Him. He does, however, do all within His power to help us achieve the goal that He established when He created us, namely to come into a deeper and fuller relationship with Him.

The celebrant then concludes the silent portion of this first major prayer of the Anaphora by expressing the fact that we who are joined in worship offer thanks to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for all that we know and do not know, the manifest benefits bestowed on us. You will note that this prayer is directed to God the Father. When you have a chance, read this prayer silently with the priest.

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