“Better three hours too soon than a minute late.” – Shakespeare The Divine Liturgy, by virtue ....

“Better three hours too soon than a minute late.” – Shakespeare 

The Divine Liturgy, by virtue of the word “liturgy,” means that the congregation, parish is to gather to perform a common action, a common work in worshiping God. Thus, all should be present when this work beings. Therefore, being late for services, and worse yet, being routinely late, is not only disrespectful to God, but also shows disrespect to the rest of your fellow congregants. It displays a general lack of humility towards God, as well as being downright rude and distracting. It’s like saying, “I really don’t care about God, I’ll saunter in when I’m good and ready and join-in when I feel like it.”

Fr. John