Uniting the Liturgy to the Real World

 February 1st begins what the pagans call Imbolc.  It’s a celebration of the starting phase of spring when the light starts catching up with the dark. It is when the sun begins its journey north over the equator. Spring eventually starts when the light and dark are equal, the equinox, around March 21, which is around the time of Pascha. The climax of Imbolc is February 2 when we celebrate the feast day of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple. It should also be of no surprise that we bless candles on this feast day.

 

If you look carefully at all our Byzantine feasts, you will discover that each one is in some way connected to the natural cycles of the Creation. This might be of great surprise to many people who celebrate these feasts. It was for me for some time. In my experience, the liturgy was just the way to get out of here. It was something that had no other purpose than to get me to heaven. It was not something that brought God here into the Real World. More than anything it was a way to escape. Likewise, my ministry as a Christian unfortunately became a way to help others escape. In the end, this understanding made me miserable. I was suffering because God was not here and I wanted to be where God was.

 

Discovering the role of the liturgy in the Creation will change one’s whole understanding of worship and ministry. It really should be of no coincidence that our Lord said, “preach the gospel to all of Creation” (Mark 16:15). It should also be of no coincidence that the apostle Paul said that the Eucharist was this preaching(1 Corinthians 11:26). The Eucharist is preaching because it proclaims that the Creation was made for union with divinity. The Eucharist is the union of the created with the uncreated. The bread and wine become what they were intended to be and when we consume these gifts, we become what we were intended to be.  This is what the purpose of our worship and ministry should be. Worship and ministry are nothing less than preparing the Creation for its union with God.

 

This Real World that we live in was created for God. Its destiny is heaven.  In the beginning, we were created as beings that were to finish what God had started here. As we know, we went astray from that purpose and likewise, this Real World that we live in followed us. Nevertheless, we never lost our purpose for being created and neither did this real world that we live in. Our Lord Jesus by becoming one of us and through the events of his life restores our purpose and he renews the purpose for what this world was intended for. This is the reason for our whole liturgical cycle and every time we celebrate a liturgy we bring this Real World back to its destiny.