“Our preparation before the Liturgy is our cultivation of the gift God gave us to become a Christian.” - Archimandrite Zacharias, The Engraving of Christ in Man’s Heart, pg 35
Reflection:
Our primary offering is the preparation of our heart, our inward disposition, reflective of our relationship with God and one another that we bring to God and the Church. It is a gift to Christ and the community. Our heart is the starting point, from where all of our God-given gifts flow.
How do we achieve such a heart so that we may then cultivate our gifts?
“One way of preparing is by praying on our own for a period of time before the Liturgy, and then going to Church with our heart full of warmth, faith, love, hope, in expectation of the Lord’s mercy, and full of spiritual dispositions.”
St Nikodemos reminds us that we must prepare ourselves for the Holy Eucharist by “forgiving our enemies, being reconciled with those who have wronged us, and putting away all hate...so that we approach the Holy Mysteries with a clean conscience.” This is according to our Lord’s commandment, that we must clear our hearts before approaching the Altar, otherwise we restrict ourselves from the fullness of God’s grace.
We must examine our thoughts, words, and deeds throughout the week. Our daily actions prepare us for the Divine Liturgy, soften or harden our heart, and determine the success of our cultivation of our God-given gifts. We must strive for and remember to ask for God’s help in prayer, with the assistance of our Spiritual Father, to achieve an authentically ‘clear conscience’ - pure heart through our life in the Church.
