Ready, Set, Go!

by Fr. William DuBovik

Everything on this earth has a starting point. If we begin a trip, seek to accomplish a goal, climb a mountain or even a flight of stairs we have a point at which we begin. Movies, plays, production, our work day, school day, a race, a speech all start at some point in time. We can't begin late, halfway through something, and expect to experience it fully. We can't start traveling in the middle of our destination. Imagine being in a play or set to give a speech and arriving halfway past the scheduled time!

Church, too, has a starting point, a starting time. It is a journey of persons, who constitute the Church, traveling to the Kingdom of God the living presence of our Lord the Eucharistic gift and our transformation. And we are integral to the unfolding of the mystical.

Fr. Alexander Schmemann, of blessed memory, spoke beautifully of our journey to the Eucharistic Banquet. It is, he said, a journey that begins when we leave our beds and homes, leaving the physical world. People of various backgrounds, races, educational levels, etc., all coming together to be the Church. To do this, he notes, is to ascend, separating ourselves from the world, being transformed into something we could never be outside of God.

The journey, like any journey, calls for preparation. Our Church gives us Vespers the evening before Liturgy. She teaches us that parties, dances and other late night activities will interfere with our being ready for the spectacular trip. We need to be well rested and eager on Sunday morning to rise, dress and begin our journey. We know the route; properly focused we will not get lost; properly rested, we will be alert to the Word; prepared spiritually, we will be able to taste the Kingdom of God.

We can't taste of this Kingdom when we are tired, lethargic, distracted, in disharmony. When we arrive before Liturgy begins, we can settle ourselves; we can already begin to "lay aside earthly cares," as we sing before the Great Entrance. We can light candles, pray individually, exchange greetings, listen to the Hours being read and be ready to "bless the Kingdom" to which we are called.

We can move to the first Entrance of the service passing, as Fr. Alexander notes, from this world to the one we fervently seek; we can receive Christ's peace; we can hear the Word of God; we can reflect on the sermon; we can petition, pray, worship; we can offer thanks; we can offer ourselves, the bread and wine, and ultimately, Christ Himself. We have then become the Church and have tasted the Kingdom, realized the transformation of the world in Christ, and we taste now of Christ Himself.

If we do not begin the journey at the starting point, we completely miss out. Just as we cannot make that trip starting at some halfway mark, so our participation in the Liturgy as the Church is sorely hampered when we arrive ill-prepared, unrested, hurried. We deprive ourselves of all that we become as the Church when we arrive in that manner. We leave ourselves undernourished spiritually for the battles we wage each day.

Our time at Liturgy is so short in comparison with the hours we spend elsewhere. And yet all else passes and only the Kingdom remains the Kingdom we call "Blessed..." when we begin the Liturgy at the starting point.

(Fr. William DuBovik is Rector of All Saints Church in Hartford, Connecticut)