Worship as our Response
Worship as our Response
by: Mathew Samuel
Worship of God has different aspects in it. Adoration of God, confession of our sins, intercession, meditation, submission etc., are important elements of worship. The Holy Eucharist (Divine Liturgy\Holy Qurbana) is our primary form of worship. We often have heard that the Holy Qurbana is a Sacrament [Latin] or Koodasha [Malayalam]. By ‘Sacrament’ we mean, a way to receive (the mysterious) grace from God. This is indeed true. All Sacraments are understood as visible acts involving human beings to experience the invisible grace of God.
As a response: At the same time, the Holy Eucharist is also a response: The Holy Eucharist is, in its essence, us giving back to God - for His love for us. God created us out of love. He then redeemed us when we fell into sin, out of love. In the Holy Eucharist, we respond to that amazing love. “We love, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). According to Metropolitan Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios of blessed memory, world renowned theologian and thinker “The Eucharist is fundamentally a response of love and gratitude, not a means of getting something free called grace from God.” 1 We receive a multitude of blessings as a result of the Holy Eucharist, but if we participate in it focusing only on what we get out of it, “we miss more than half the point”1 It is essentially not about what we receive, but about what we give – what we bring to offer - in response to God’s love. It is possibly the most meaningful way we can respond to God’s love.
A response in totality: As a response then, the Divine Liturgy is not just expressing thanks through words. It is not just some ritual performed by the priest. It involves everyone, using the entirety of all our senses, each of us in our entire being – body, mind and soul – completely surrendering ourselves and offering ourselves to the Lord, in love. It is thus aptly called by Mar Gregorios as “An Act of Love”. Agape or the highest form of love is inseparable from the experience of the Holy Eucharist.
A representative response: We are never alone in this act of response. The Holy Eucharist is an action of the entire community of believers. It includes not only everyone gathered on the day in the Church, but also those who could not. Those present represent those who are not. Also present is the whole Church including the departed and the saints, and also those yet to come. At the same time, the Church represents the entire humanity and the entire created order before the Holy Throne. The entire creation is indebted to the Creator. The bread and wine we use is gathered from the creation. It is on behalf of the entire Creation that we stand in the presence of God, fulfilling our priestly role of representing all before God in the Eucharist, to respond to God’s love.
The perfect response: While it is a response, the Holy Eucharist is not something accomplished by man alone. If it was brought about by man alone, it would have had its imperfections. However, the Second person of the Holy Trinity, by virtue of His Incarnation has identified Himself with man forever. He has assumed our nature and has become a part of us in order to redeem us. It is He who offers the Holy Eucharist, using the hands of the priest. Thus Christ Himself is the offeror and the offered at the same time. The offering is made to God the Father while the Holy Spirit sanctifies, completes and fulfills the Sacrament, transforming it into the perfect Body and Blood of the Christ. “The Eucharist is thus an act of and in the Holy Trinity, into which we are caught up by grace.”1 The presence of God Himself as the celebrant, the offering, the receiver and the sanctifier all at the same time, through the participation of the Church, makes the mystery of the Eucharist the perfect response to God’s love. The free-will given to us is a gift of God as part of the image of God in us. In the Holy Eucharist, we use our free will to give back love to our Lord in a perfect worship.
The Psalmist finds joy in the Lord making Him go to the Lord by His own free will (Psalm 43:4). To Him we also go, in order to give thanks and offer ourselves to Him, presenting ourselves as “living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1) - in a perfect and total response to His love – the Holy Eucharist.
Reference: 1 - The Eucharist – An Act of Love – Metropolitan Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios.
Review Questions:
- List some of the elements of worship.
- Why is worship a ‘perfect’ response to God’s love?
- How does the Son become the offeror and the offered at the same time in the Holy Eucharist?
Exercise: Can you discuss and list a few ways in which we can make our response to the love of God better in our Church?
