As I have been stressing in this article, for our worship to become “real” we must not only begin to “mean” all the words that we say/sing but also to become truly involved with all the actions of the Divine Liturgy. We think about what the Entrances, both small and big, mean to us and we become involved, at least intentionally, in these Entrances. We also try to make all of the prayers OUR PRAYERS, making the words that we say/sing, truly words that speak to what our heart and mind attends which we worship our God.

One of the important directions that we are given in the Divine Liturgy is the direction the priest gives to us to APPROACH WITH FEAR OF GOD, WITH FAITH AND LOVE. I don’t know how many who worship with me truly understand what this means! I truly don’t remember sharing many thoughts about this with the people who worship with me.

We approach Holy Communion first with “fear of God”. This means that we stand in “AWE” that God has elected from all eternity to make Himself, through the Person of His Son Jesus, our food and drink.  We receive the gifts of bread and wine that are transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus, Who is truly the spiritual food that we need in order to be strong enough to attempt to follow Him. Holy Communion is God’s spiritual food.

We also approach with FAITH. This means that we profess that we truly believe we are receiving Jesus’ own Body and Blood. This, I know, can be very difficult since it still has all of the characteristics of bread and wine. I would encourage all to make a real act of faith as you approach the chalice.

Lastly, we approach with LOVE. We must make an act of love toward all those who approach the chalice with us and also all those we have prayed for during the Divine Liturgy. This means that we have no grievances with any of those with whom we say we worship. We should never conceive of anyone who approaches the chalice with us as a “stranger” or as someone with whom we have a grievance.

The very act of approaching Holy Communion should trigger within our hearts the desire to be at peace with all others and, if we have a grievance with someone else, we must commend that person to God before we receive Holy Communion. So the very act of receiving Holy Communion should be prefaced by a true reflection on our life and make sure that we are at peace with all others, especially those with whom we are worshipping. Remember, our worship is INTELLIGENT!