www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization a target market for growth ?

This is another "WOW !" post, especially the summary which I quote.

There is much food for thought here, Fr. Anthony, for which I thank you.

I'll need to think on this before I reply.

-- John

John,

Just a part of my calling . Look forward to the reply.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Dear Fr. Anthony,

I have thought on your question, and the only answer that seems to make sense is: saints.

Our religion is a mystery religion. And as St. Paul taught us (Colossians 1:24 - 29), the mystery is Christ in us.

So, our religion of Christianity is not an idea nor a program nor a plan. All those things will come to naught unless Christ our God is living in us and through us to others.

But if Christ is in us, and if we are in Him, then all things are possible -- according to His will.

I don't want to sound dreamy or idealistic. Nor do I advocate quietism or pietism. Quietism and pietism are dangerous roads to a subtle form of self-idolatry.

Instead, I think the key is Jesus. Christ is the vine and we are the branches. Christ is the door, and we are the ones who must go through the door. Christ is the Good Shepherd; we are the sheep. So often we get caught up in our ideas, our desires and our plans. But to live the Gospel, we must allow Him -- Jesus -- to take over in our hearts.

Therefore, as we heard yesterday at Divine Liturgy, as St. Paul taught to Timothy: If we abide in Christ and if do the work that He calls to do, Christ shall bring us to salvation and Christ, through us, shall lead others to salvation too. (1 Timothy 4:9-16)

The key is Jesus.

John 15:16 lays this out in terms of all religious ministries (personal and official) and of all vocations. The first part of Jesus' commission reads, "You have not chosen Me. I have chosen you." We must keep that first part first in our hearts and in our minds. Then we can accept the rest of the commission on His terms ("that you should go forth and bear fruit . . .").

By accepting His commission on His terms, we will thus be able to bear the rejection of Jesus by people. (Matthew 10:13 -14) A lot of the failure of Christian ministry is simply that people say no to Jesus. As the popular saying goes, 'You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.'

But by keeping Jesus first in our hearts, we can avoid the temptation that the solution is primarily with us. Instead, if we keep Jesus first in our hearts, we can realize that the only effective way to overcome a deaf and dumb spirit in others is by turning the matter over to Jesus by prayer and fasting (Mark 9: 17 - 29).

Our plans and programs are like works in a garden, but prayer and fasting enable God to first water and clear the soil of human hearts. I'm not proposing a magic formula --say a prayer and get what you want. Instead, I'm suggesting that we in the Church often place too much emphasis on ourselves and not enough trust and reliance on Jesus. If we would emphasize Jesus more and ourselves less, Jesus would be better able to use us and with better results according to His will.

And that comes back to being holy. Being saints. We cannot give what we do not have. But if we grow in unity with Him, by growing in love for Him, by keeping all that He has commanded us, He shall be able to sanctify us and others through us: according to His plans and will. That might be like St. Paul -- working and preaching and ministering "out there" in the world. Or, it might be like St. Therese of Lisieux: praying and living a quiet, hidden life in the Lord, offering everything to Him, and not seeing the results of one's labors until one gets to heaven. Or, as is the case for most of us, it will be something in the middle: a combination of activity in the world and living quiet, unnoticeable lives. (St. Monica comes to mind; so too does St. Macrina the Elder as well as the parents of St. Basil the Great, St. Basil the Elder and St Emmelia; and many, many other examples as well. Most of all, there is the example of the Theotokos.) But the common fact in all of these examples of holiness is Jesus. They were saints because they gave over everything to Him so He could give all of Himself to us, according to His will. Thus, in Christ, comes true what was shown to the Prophet Moses: the fire of God's Spirit in the burning bush did not consume the bush; it sanctified the bush and, in Christ, ourselves. The hope of the Church is Jesus and thus in the saints of Jesus.

just my thoughts.

-- John

I will give you an example of what I mean. It was not any program of the Church that brought me back to Christ and His Church, when I had been away for years. It was the love of Christians that brought me back to Christ and thus the Church. And as I came to realize later, their love was simply His love: dwelling and abiding within them, reaching out to me and to others.

-- John

Ah John,

Love is the key and always has been. Now, we have to start to get our people to live in that context. In reality we all have a lot work ahead of us.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

I think that secular society is trying to squeeze religion out of our lives. I just read a quote by Khrushchev this weekend that goes something like this... We can't get the Capitalists to turn to Communism over night, we can just give them small doses of Socialism until they have slid into Communism without noticing it.

I believe that secular society is not neutral, we are fighting something more sinister here.

Dr Eric's quote of Krushchev reminds me of something I heard in the late 60's to early 70's. And that would be that ...'in time Russia will move past Communism and America would turn into a State equivelent to same "...(we are virtually socialist now..)! Funny how what goes around , come back around!!! If you live long enough, you 'old clothes' will be in fashion again.
mik S Bohom

John, your post has led me to much introspective reflection.

The whole sense of Christian community is so degraded, so scattered and minimalized. And it is sorely missed and craved by so many. It is not glitz, it is not 1,000 people and a professional choir that will do it, at least in a lasting way. It's not a performance, it is a way of life.

It is something much more intimate - being part of a praying family. As Catherine Doherty always said in the formation of her Madonna Houses - be little, always be little. The more I get into this gig, the more I realize how prophetic and right the Baronness was (Baronness Catherine, pray for us sinners!).

It was also not any program, initiative, team or focus group that "woke me up". For me the "turning points" were: a personal experience of authentic Byzantine monasticism; encounters with Orthodoxy; and my experience of worship in mainly two Greek Catholic parishes, Saint Elias in Brampton (www.saintelias.com [saintelias.com]) and St. Michael's in New York City (www.stmichaelruscath.org [stmichaelruscath.org]) - moments of Theosis. These can't be described in tracts or flyers, or talked about - they have to be experienced, lived.

Neither of these two parishes I mention has a radio or TV show, has seminars or programs, but has and continues to influence many with the outreach of inspiration from their authentic worship and community, living out regularly the lex orandi.

We have to get people to pray together, starting with the domestic churches given our geopgraphically scattered situations. Once the families step into, just get a taste of the angelic life possible from that unique experience and encounter of God and His Mother and Saints that occurs with literally every prayer, every service, the deifying and transfiguring potential of our beautiful Byzantine tradition will be opened like floodgates.
DD