Since the Nativity of our Lord, the church has been on a festal spree. Lots of feasts are imminent. Often the church in the quest for filling the pews offer many enticements. Many of them are not just uncalled for but even betray the fundamental principles of Christianity. With confectionery stalls, assorted kiosks, firecrackers, illumination, earsplitting music, opulent meals, the church premise is transformed into an ersatz marketplace. So those who throng the church exclusively during these festivities are actually lured not to the church but to this faux marketplace. If not they would be present every Sunday for the Holy Eucharist. Apparently for them the body and blood of Christ aren’t “attractive enough” to draw them to church. Moreover why does the church project itself to be something it is not just for the sake of augmenting participation? How is this participation of any help? Now, if your focus is simply on reaping monetary benefits from this then that’s just prostituting the body of Christ.
Wake up ! The objective is to churchify the world not to be it slaves. May be this warning of St. Gregory of Nazianus from one of his Festal Orations would awaken you;
“𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩…𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴.”
~ 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐨 𝐅𝐫. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥
Urho, The Way 