“When prayer and liturgy are inseparably united, God becomes present to me, and as I address myself to Him, He rushes toward me, He stretches out toward me, and through prayer I stretch out toward Him, until we are completely united."

-Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra, The Light of the World, pg xii. 

 

Reflection:

Our personal relationship with Christ (daily personal prayer/devotion) goes hand in hand with our communal worship and sacramental life. Each presuppose the other, to have one without the other is to have neither. Our healing and union with God is made whole only when we engage in all the Church has available for us.  

Every tradition the Church has work together with the other, as all pieces to the whole in order to address the entirety of our person: mind, body, and soul. 

Our personal relationship with God is strengthened by our worship/sacramental life and vice versa. Our lives are strengthened and made peaceful through the synergy of personal devotion and worship. Our union with God is made strong.

While we may need to ‘pivot’ in how we practice our Faith during the extreme circumstance of the pandemic, we may feel like something is missing because we realize our natural need to worship. God knows our situation, we must keep trying, keep holding on knowing this will not last forever. 

Let us pray for and seek guidance and strength to fulfill our natural need as human beings to worship as continue to grow in our personal relationship with God each and every day so that we may fully unite ourselves to Christ.

Resources:

1) Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra, The Light of the World, pg xii.