The question that worries the zealous in the Church is: Why do most Orthodox people neglect collective prayers (especially Sunday Mass)? Whoever neglects these prayers is likely to neglect all that they require of piety, sincerity, and testimony… It is no secret that this neglect has been known – and is known – among us for many justifications, and perhaps the most common of them is that most believers justify their absence from participating in the Lord’s Table by saying: they are tired from their work throughout the week, and need to rest on Sunday, so they increase their sleeping hours or organize projects for their comfort and entertainment… This justification helps us understand the depth of the problem, which is that most people no longer consider their rest “on the Lord’s Day,” as Clement of Alexandria (+215) taught, who said: “The spiritual rest is on the Lord’s Day (meaning that the true rest of believers is in participating on Sunday in the Divine Liturgy)” (Excerpts from Theodotus: 63: 1). Is there any other rest if we walk in the Spirit?

If we want to think deeply or analyze the reasons that led people to this terrible neglect, a very important matter stands before us, and I mean the role of parents in church education. People have become accustomed to justifying their neglect by blaming others, such as priests for example... No one denies the negligence that has afflicted church servants at different times and places, but Christian education needs to be completed by two poles, the first of which is the work of priests and those around them in the parish, and then the work of the household. If one pole is neglected, this other pole is not excused, even if education by one pole remains incomplete or deficient in any case (I do not want to suggest that there are two sources of church education, but rather to detail what is originally one, that is, what begins in church and continues in daily life). What is very objectionable is for a father or mother to ask their children to go to church without being present with them or before them. The example is not only in words but also in behavior. To be convinced that participation in divine service is called for by saving truth is an attitude that is not complete unless you first adopt it. No parent can ever be excused for wanting his children to know the world and its arts, and sometimes to indulge in them without wisdom or discernment, and not guiding them to the truth or deterring them from committing sin. The experienced one is required to have wise experience. He who loves God, himself, and his children, prefers nothing to the Lord and union with Him. The Lord, His love and union with Him are life and its subject, the inheritance of believers and the true value. If you are able to leave to your children – if you are able – money and possessions… and do not bequeath to them the love and obedience of Jesus, and do not urge them to be active members of His Church, you are leaving them what is fleeting and of no true value. If you talk to them about money, power and sex, all of which are just dust, and you do not talk to them about the truth and its requirements, then all of your upbringing is invalid and has no real or true content. Therefore, if there is a problem, it is in every neglect and justification. And there is no excuse for someone who sees justification for his neglect in the behavior of others…

Participation in church prayers is something that no one who is aware that he has joined God in his baptism and has become his son will disagree with. Love is not complete with neglect, but rather it weakens and dries up. Therefore, every excuse that some people make by saying that they only pray at home, and their argument is that God is present everywhere, is an excuse that does not benefit anyone. It only confirms that the evil one is still roaming, inspiring, seizing, and bringing down those who thought they were strong without God and the brothers gathered in love. What is very regrettable is that some people look for excuses for their wrong positions and do not admit that they have distorted the truth. The truth is exposed and clear. It demands of us all and urges us to correct the mistake. And every mistake, whether big or small, cannot be corrected without repentance. As for love, which is the greatest truth, it grows and increases in openness to God and participation, with understanding, in the life of the Church, which is the pasture of eternal life.

Whoever fails to participate in the Church’s sacraments and prayers, ultimately, is not only rejecting the meeting of the community, but also eternal life. This is what worries the jealous and throws them into bitterness, and therefore if they ask about those who are absent and try to invite them and hope for their participation, they seek to establish the truth that Jesus came and wrote with his blood.

From my parish bulletin 2001