Have you ever wondered why we must attend church every week and partake in the Divine Liturgy? You may ask, "𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙝?"

In the beginning, God created Mankind with three distinct faculties: 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁, and 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹, to enable us to live in perfect harmony and communion with God and the created world. But, unfortunately, we chose to use these faculties for the wrong purposes. Consequently, our '𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁,' which was originally intended to harbor love for God, became consumed with self-love; our '𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱,' which was meant to seek knowledge of God, became preoccupied with earthly wisdom, and our '𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹,' which was intended to desire communion with God, became fixated on harmful desires and passions. This event is called the "𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙙𝙖𝙢," signifying humanity's descent from the original state of communion with God.

So Man fell into a disorderly world where his soul turned away from God towards sin. As a result, his soul became ill and needed healing and restoration to the original relationship with God. 𝙏𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙨, 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨, 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙃𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣.

The Church, serving as the meeting place of heaven and earth, is where the soul finds healing. The Divine Liturgy, takes place in the Church, and every individual is expected to participate in it. 𝙒𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 "𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙" 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 "𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙚" 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩, 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣. Therefore, for Orthodox Christians, attending the Divine Liturgy is not a simple weekly obligation but an essential part of living in communion with God.

As Christians, we are required to carry the essence of the Divine Liturgy beyond the walls of the church building. Christians do not live one way in Church and another way outside. 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙, 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. How we live during the week is reflected in how we pray in church, and how we pray in the church indicates how we will live in our daily lives.

To fully live the Liturgy daily, we must cultivate virtues such as humility, meekness, love, and selflessness. By acquiring such virtues, we become more compassionate, loving, and mindful of others. We become mediators and bring God to the creation, offering ourselves and the entire creation back to God.

The Divine Liturgy has the power to transform us as Christians from within. It balances our souls and enables us to share its transformative power with society and the entire creation.

In conclusion, participating in the Divine Liturgy in the Church is integral to the Christian life and the first step in our journey to regain communion with God. It is a foretaste of the heavenly kingdom and a celebration of the "Liturgy of Paradise."

Returning to the question, "If I live a decent life and treat others with kindness, is it still necessary for me to attend church?" In the context of Orthodox Christianity, the answer to this question is an unequivocal "yes." This is because 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 "𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮" 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩'𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙂𝙤𝙙.