I continue to think about the fact that a spiritual community truly become vibrant when the majority of its members truly understand that they have been called to holiness and do everything in their power to support one another in this pursuit. As I continue to reflect on this, it dawns on me that one of the things we can truly do to support one another in this effort is to (1) do all in our power to engage in authentic prayer when we come to church and (2) make sure that we develop a true sensitivity to the needs of those in our spiritual community who are on life’s journey with us. Think about this. It is by the grace of God that we have all come together in the spiritual community in which we now pray. We have to believe that God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, knows that somehow we can help each other achieve the holiness that we desire.

How do we personally contribute to the authenticity of our communal prayer? Much of it, I believe, is probably invisible because it means coming to our communal worship with certain dispositions. You will recall the Liturgy tells us to come to the Liturgy with faith, reverence and the fear of God. It also means that during the Divine Liturgy each of us attempts to lay aside all of our earthly cares and be fully and truly present to the communal prayer. It also means that we become fully aware of the help (grace) that Christ gives us, the love that the Father gives us and, of course, the communion which the Holy Spirit offers to us.  You might observe that all of these things are invisible to others. Whether we believe it or not, people see in the way we participate and conduct ourselves in Church whether we are fully engaged and have come to our communal worship with these very critical dispositions and thoughts.  For example, if you truly believe that the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity are actively helping you to make your prayer authentic in community, you will act differently and present yourself differently to the community and the community will be enhanced and blessed by it.

While there are times in our communal worship for enjoyment, there are also many times when our worship must be focused and serious. We must think about what we are doing. What we do together is truly most sacred and mysterious and we are in the presence of God.