“The parish (organic parish life) – is the place (classroom, auditorium), where the Teacher (Christ) conducts lessons of eternal hypostatic life, teaches how to be a Catholic personality, how to receive and possess the gift of deification, how to become god by grace. Thus, the Liturgy-Eucharist – is a lesson that the Lord conducts by the Holy Spirit in the parish gathering of all the faithful (who belong to the community and who can come and participate (if not excluded from the Cup until the performance of repentance) in the sacrament of ‘breaking of the Bread’). Later in this and the following parts, we will talk about how to ‘do homework’, assimilate ‘material’, skills of hypostatic life, learned at the ‘lesson’ (Eucharist), and how to prepare for the next ‘classes’ (Eucharist). It will be useful to especially listen to those who regularly attend ‘lessons’, i.e., those who are disciples of Christ (i.e., Christians).
P.S. The criterion of whether we face a pastor, and not a hireling, thief, or robber, is whether the shepherd cares for the sheep of his flock (every single sheep!) to graze on the Pastures of Truth, i.e., on the Divine Eucharist, so that every sheep (which only he can declare, teach; which falls under the influence of his voice (preaching)!) partakes of this Food at the Feast of the Eucharistic Pasture (those lambs who are too weak to graze on the Pasture of the Eucharist are to be treated with the verbal milk of declaration and prepared through repentance, so they may join the lambs at the Pasture of Divine Life in the Holy Spirit). If even one person in the assembly of the shepherd does not interest him: whether she partakes, how she lives (spiritually and bodily), how she believes, etc., in a word, he is indifferent to her (whether she is happy or not – he does not care) – know that before you is not a pastor, not a parishioner, but a visitor, a hireling, a criminal! Similarly, we determine the sheep of the flock: whether it is a sheep or a wolf in sheep’s clothing. If even one person is indifferent to me in the assembly (especially in the assembly (because how can I offer or propose the Sacrament to someone who is not with me now?!)! But a Christian – is one who has no strangers and his own, close and distant, enemies!..), then I am not a sheep of Christ’s flock, not a member of the Body of Love!
You ask, what is the difference between a church and a parish, between visitors and parishioners?! Huge! The same as between the Church and a pagan religion; parishioners – are Christians (members of the Body of Christ, the Church), and visitors – are not! (We are now talking about visitors who every Sunday (minimum; or even every day) approach the Holy Cup (‘commune’) and attend all the services (which are performed in the temple of the given church)! About those who come and do not approach the Cup of the Eucharist (we are already talking about the fruits of the Eucharist, or one facet of the Eucharist – communion of the Holy Bread and Wine; it is enough to consider this facet of the sacrament of the Eucharist, the Body of Christ, to illuminate what we are talking about), because they came to light a candle, ‘pray’, or sanctify something (charge with positive energy!?), – it is obvious (that these people have no relation to the Body of the Church, that is, they are outside the Body (until they repent!)).
Let’s start with a parable (analogy). Someone (who has no family, husband, wife, children, parents, brothers, sisters) dines (has dinner, breakfast) in a secular dining room, while someone else – at home with family! Someone every day(!) comes at the same time to the dining room to eat. There are many like him (who have no family, no kin) at the same time gathering to eat (for money; each pays their own or someone treats, it doesn’t matter). After a while they visually know each other, later they may become good acquaintances… What unites the visitors of the dining room with the fellow diners?! Only the fact that they eat in the same room (they have no business with the present: whether they eat or not; whether they have money to buy food or not; how they live; whether they came to the dining room or not; what happened to them… Perhaps they may remember someone with whom they sat at the same table (or nearby)!?). They ate, paid (maybe someone exchanged some news – people gathered, they are not animals!?) and each went to their own life! People COME to the dining room to eat, some work there, others buy products and services (each has their own benefit, each uses each other and all is well!?), but all – both employees and customers – are VISITORS!
And someone always eats in the family circle! And what unites those who gathered at the family table?! Not the dinner time, because it starts when everyone has gathered (those who could come, except those absent for valid reasons: illness, business trips etc.); not a certain time, as in the secular dining room: whoever did not make it – goes to bed hungry!!? Not the place, because the family can gather anywhere: at home, in a restaurant, outdoors etc. and anytime (at a convenient time for everyone – everyone adjusts to each other)! Thus, the family at dinner is united not by dinner (space and time – wherever they are, they are always kin to each other!), because it is a consequence (not the purpose) of gathering, but by family ties (connections)! In this case, they are united by EVERYTHING! The grief of one – the grief of all, the pain of one – the pain of all, the joy of one – the joy of all… They are one family, one body, each responsible for and carrying responsibility for the whole family, each carries (everywhere and always) the whole family (both joy and sorrow – he cannot ‘exit the game’, unlike acquaintances in the dining room – listened, sympathized emotionally (or rejoiced), turned around and forgot (‘exited the game’)!) (see 1 Cor. 12; Acts 4). When someone goes to a secular dining room – he leaves home, or stops by on the way home to it, but the one who goes to the family – goes home!!!