On Churchgoing (Part 4)

Summary

Many attend without benefit, Dimitrios Panagopoulos says in the fourth talk, because they mistake what the Church is. She is a hospital for souls, so to find sick people inside, clergy included, is exactly what one should expect and no reason to stay away. Those who talk through the service of politics or sport behave badly, yet the mature Christian bears with them and teaches by example; the measure of progress is precisely the capacity to endure the faults of others at church, at home, and at work. To refuse the Church out of moral superiority is contempt for Christ, who loved her and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25). Private prayer cannot replace the assembly, since the united cry of the people joined to the priests' prayers ascends with a force no solitary prayer possesses.