"The peace of the Lord be with you" The understanding of Liturgy

"Let us go in peace, the peace of the Lord be with you" as the congregation respond "And with your Spirit". And with that ends the liturgical cycle of the liturgy Sunday morning. However, we say it so many times that do we ever wonder what this means? Does it mean that the liturgy ends and were of to another work week? Does the peace of the Lord truly stop at this point and then we will receive it again the following Sunday? I would suggest that this surely does not end the liturgy but begins it. "Let us go in peace" are not merely comforting words meant only for us. Rather, it is a calling to serve and bear witness of Christ. "Let us go in peace" does in the physical world mark the end of the liturgy but begins the spiritual liturgy that is about to begin.

The word liturgy is derived from the Greek (Liturgia), essentially meaning service. However, the ancient church not only understood this as service in general but rather a communal service. Service that is done within the community by the community. This is why the theme of unity plays a major factor within the celebration of the liturgy. We are coming together as one body to celebrated the divine liturgy and to partake of Christ as one body, one mind and one spirit. This, then, is the aim of the Liturgy: that we should return to the world with the doors of our perceptions purified. When we return to the word, we must see Christ in every human person, especially in those who suffer. Father Alexander Schememann said it best "the Christian is the one who wherever he or she looks, everywhere sees Christ and rejoices in him. We are to go out, then, from the Liturgy and see Christ everywhere". All that we do is Liturgy (community). If we believe that we are one body, mind and spirit then how is this any different outside of the church? The early church did think that way and neither should we.

Again Father Alexander said it best "If today the liturgy of the Church has ceased to be for so many people the deepest need and joy of their life, it is, above all, because they have forgotten, or maybe have never known, the essential liturgical law of preparation and fulfilment. They experience no fulfilment because they ignore preparation, and they ignore preparation because they desire no fulfilment. Then indeed liturgy appears as an irrelevant survival of archaic forms, to be enlivened by some "concert" or artificial and tasteless "solemnity."

Powerful words but I believe this rings true to many people who attend the Orthodox church. Coming to church to show off your clothing or cleaning your hair in the wash-room or checking your cellphone every five minutes or using projector screens to cover the icons in the church or coming to church and talk to your friends as the service is going on demonstrates the handicaps that we as humans have inherited to help us with "our liturgical cycle". We have to pay attention to the preparation of the liturgy. If there is no preparation then there is no respect and if there is no respect then the liturgy loses its meaning and sweetness to everyone. People start showing up late, not evening knowing why they come to church any more. Once we start respecting the liturgy from the inside then we can start living the liturgy outside. Lex orandi, lex credendi, "The law of worship determines the law of faith". If we respect the preparation then our worship in the church will determine the growth of our faith which will naturally carry the liturgy not to its conclusion but rather to its beginning in our lives.