Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos): Your Faith Becomes Cold If You Avoid the Divine Liturgy

Go to the temple of God to multiply your faith.

Something wrong? Your computer broke down and you want to fix it? Ask Christ for help. Do you have a problem with math at school? Ask Christ for help. Go to the Liturgy and ask for whatever you want. Your mother will ask one thing in her prayers, your father will ask another. You say he doesn’t go to church? What can I say? We want our children to improve, but even we adults do not go to church. What will you tell your child, if you do not go to church?

Here’s what I’d like you to do today: Don’t criticize others. Stop it, stop it. You must not criticize your mother, and she will not criticize you. Let everyone mind their own business. Your mother and father will be busy attaining their personal holiness. They’ll always love and respect you, of course. And you will do the same. Love your Lord, try to get closer to Him. Christ is not hidden out there, He is everywhere, but you can taste His Body and Blood only in the church.

I ask you to go to church every Sunday. Come when you can. Can you go to church at 7:00 a.m.? Come at seven. Can you come later? Come later. The sooner you come, the better: your soul can enjoy the love of Christ more. Your heart will be softer and more peaceful. The ice in your soul, which makes you callous, will melt down. Your faith becomes cold if you avoid the Divine Liturgy. Go to God’s temple to multiply your faith. It would be great if you could call me one day and tell me, “I was in the church today, and I felt the presence of Christ, and I’m calling you to tell you this and make you happy. I have realized that our Christ is my personal God, whom I love and feel His presence.” If you say that to me, I will be infinitely happy.

God blesses the whole world. St. Paisius says that “God blesses the whole world with one hand. But when he sees a humble man, he blesses him with two hands”. I also wish that the Lord would bless all who go to church with both hands. I wish He would look at you too. Whenever you come to church, the Lord will satisfy the sincere good desire of your heart. He will send you everything that is good.

A friend of mine wants to buy a motorcycle, but he’s afraid. Don’t worry! The Lord will give you the answer. If it is for the good of your soul and your well-being, Christ will arrange it. It is not that you are going to hit it somewhere on the road or crash it. Go to church and ask for it: in church, not at home. After praying, you’ll feel the answer from Christ. If you feel the Savior deep in your soul, even for two minutes, you will forget about your purchase. You will walk out of the church, then you will remember. You will say to yourself, “The Church is more than motorcycles, weddings, money, food, houses, and so on. It is about the omnipresent Christ!”

Go to church in order to feel the presence of the Lord! I wish that He would give you all earthly and heavenly benefits, that He would put His paradise in your heart from now on, that you might live in your little paradise here on this earth, and that you may anticipate the Kingdom of God. It would be good to be together with you in the everlasting blessed life, with you who loves the Church and who works hard using his little efforts.

We will be enlightened like the sun, because the grace of the face of Christ will be reflected on our faces.

From the book Love Forever by the Very Reverend Andrew (Konanos)

Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravlife.org/ru/content/arhim-andrey-konanos-holodneet-vera-tvoya-esli-izbegaesh-bozhestvennoy-liturgii