www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization Eastern Catholic Churches and media evangelization

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Evangelizers,

It has been a long time since I last posted on this section of the forum. I have been very busy "doing" evangelization. In that regard I am requesting your ideas, involvement, etc. in an aspect of evangelization that continues to grow in my own work--
media.

My radio program, "Light of the East Radio" is heard on many networks in America and can of course be heard online at wwww.byzantinecatholic.com (Click on the radio page.) I also continue to be regular guest on Relevant Radio on Thursdays 7-8AM (CST). You can also listen online: www.relevantradio.com [relevantradio.com]
I am also working on some TV projects and doing alot of public speaking laregly due to being heard on the radio. My point in saying all of this is to simply illustrate that a door is being held open for the Eastern Churches in media. It is a door that I am holding open in my own small way in hopes that the entire Eastern Christian world will eventually step through the door.
In other words what I am envisioning (and indeed working toward) is major media presence for the Eastern Churches.

I would like to see the sum total of the resources of the Eastern Churches marshalled together so that we can provide major broadcasting on the mediums already established. This effort includes the newly established OLTV (Orientale Lumen TV) which can be viewed on the web.

I am looking for talent from our eastern churches to join me in Light of the East Radio and other media endeavors in which I am currently involved. We have a chance, and indeed already have a foot in the door, for major media exposure.

One part of my plan would be to develop programming and then have the Eastern bishops enmass approach the current media outlets and "stike a deal" between the Eastern Churches and the media outlets. We can do this! Reently on my "Light of the East" program I interviewed Dick Morris who is a nationally known politcally analyst and prognosticator. He used to be an advisor to the Clintons but has since become Catholic. Mr. Morris is a regular on Fox Cable News. My point here is simply to illustrate that "little ol' us easterners" can in fact go for the big venues. There is a need and a "slot" for us in media today.

Any evangelizers out there interested??

--Fr. Thomas J. Loya, STB, MA.
"Light of the East Radio
TOBIA (Theology of the Body International Allance)
Tabor Life Institute

Fr. Tom,

Of course I would be very interested in helping you!

Are you looking for people to interview? If so, I would be interested in talking about "Icons, the New Evangelization and the Domestic Church". I just recently completed a 200 pg. handbook (iconic catechesis and activities) for Orthodox and Catholic families entitled The Twelve Great Feasts of the Messiah and the Mother of God: A Handbook for the Domestic Church which will be released this month from Eastern Christian Publications (in time for the first Great Feast of our calendar). My purpose in writing it was to equip parents and youth workers to "evangelize" children/youth through icons and activities based on the Twelve Great Feasts of the Byzantine Church year. To my mind, the Church's calendar and icons are some of the great strengths of our tradition, but we need to help parents see themselves as the first "disciple-makers" - something which flows sacramentally from the Mystery of Crowning. The Church gives us many wonderful tools to do this, so I tried to use my training and development experience in the corporate world to compile them in a practical handbook for families.

I am also working on another writing project with a co-author (a former protestant missionary archbishop now converted to Catholicism - also very, very sympathetic to the East) to help equip clergy and laity with the knowledge and skills to be effective servant leaders. It is not specifically Byzantine, but it certainly can apply in a Byzantine context!

Let me know how I can collaborate with you, Father. My instructional design skills are at your service (and the service of the Church).

God bless,

Gordo

Why bother to evangelize when the liturgy chases people away?

I will only remind you that "Byzantine" (and "East" for that matter) is a nomenclature far broader than the Ruthenian Metropolia of Pittsburgh.

The fact that the liturgy of the Ruthenians has been changed does not somehow abrogate or negate the obligation of everyone to be apostolic in heart and mind. Our chrismation calls us to a Royal Priesthood which engages in spiritual battle and evangelizes the world. As far as I know it cannot be simply "rubbed off"!

God bless Father Tom for his continuing apostolates!

Gordo

Lets. I would like to do some work in the Asia Pacific area. Any ideas on what I can start with?

Host a workshop on icon writing. That usually generates interest.

Create "Jesus Prayer Starter Kits" for people. Asia in general has a great tradition of prayer beads. This would be something new for people beyond the Rosary. It is also a good evangelization tool for non-Christians since the Jesus Prayer is a summary of the Gospel.

Hold regular Typica Services, unless you already have an Eastern parish.

God bless!

Gordo

Father Tom,

I have been listening to your site for the Dick Morris interview, but could not locate it. Has it been posted there yet?

God bless,

Gordo

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Ebed Melech,

Thanks for your offer. Let's do it--arrange an interview on my radio program to promote your books. We can do this by phone.

To other posters:

Thanks for your responses. Keep them coming. I am looking for peole to step up and help create a media industry for the Eastern Churches. Actually it is well under way but I would like to make it big. My motto is "World Domination" (my own tongue-in-cheek version of the New Evangelization and the madate to "Go forth and teach ALL nations.")

Desert Byzantine:

You touch upon something very vital: the RDL as well as ANY effort like it must be a part of a sweeping, top to bottom, comprehensive vision and plan for renewal and evangelization in the Eastern Churches. In other words any effort like a RDL should be just one, tiny, tiny facet of a huge diamond of renewal. One of the reasons there is trouble accepting the RDL is that nothing else is changing in the Eastern Churches. Thereofer, no matter what type of translation we come up with for any worship service it will seem simply as an artificial and uncalled for rock thrown into an otherwise stagnant pond. Ther RDL is seen as an unnecessary intrusion into a Church where nothing else substantial is changing yet should change. HOWEVER, if the RDL or whatever translation we come up with was part of a full throttole plan to turn every aspect of our church and lives toward a "liturgical worldview," then an RDL would make more sense and be better received. This vision for a renewed Church would be "owned" by everyone as everyone would be invited to be a "stakeholder" in the vision for a mighty Eastern Church. And a mighty Eastern Church is in fact in our grasp. We simply have to go for it.

So, I am inviting all of you, especially with your talents in media to join the "World Domination Tour." Let's get real, bonafide radio programming on all major Catholic networks (and secular networks as well--it can be done!!) Let's get real bonafide TV material on these same networks. I would love to see tons of money allocated for what would be (and in fact already is) an IMMENSELY fruitful effort of media evangelization. And I am not just talking about speaking to the choir and playing it safe and boring. I mean really "taking the game to 'em."

NOTE: There is never a single word of suggestion that I post on this forum that I am not already actually involved in myself.
This is why I speak confidently about these things. They are actually happening. But it is not about me or any one person. I am just a doorman holding the door open for the rest of you. It is all about you and the sum total of the riches of the Eastern lung of the Church. So, can we get some people actually walking through this door in a very serious way--in a way that can actually make the impact on both the Church AND the secular world that it can?

--Fr. Thomas J. Loya, STB, MA>

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Example of people "stepping through the door":

Our Light of the East Radio program will now feature each week a two-minute reflection by the monks at Holy Resurrection Monastery in Newbury Springs, CA. And wait 'till you hear their first entry--WOW!! This feature begins on our program this coming Sunday (Noon) It can be heard online or via EWTN satellite. The monks simply send an MP3 file via cybespace to "Light of the East." This in turns gets beamed all over the world. In addition to various parts of the USA, we also just found out that our program is being carried on 10 stations in Texas alone! What did I tell you---WORLD DOMINATION! It is in our grasp!!

--Fr. Thomas J. Loya, STB, MA.

Wonderful!

Yes, we'll have to chat, Father!

God bless,

Gordo

Poster: Desert Byzantine
Subject: Re: Eastern Catholic Churches and media evangelization

Why bother to evangelize when the liturgy chases people away?



Wow! what a defeatist attitude to start off with. Of course if one is only interested in the Ruthenian church and the current RDL, then perhaps there may be a point. However, there is also the Ukrainian Church (UGCC), Melkite church, Russian Catholic and many others that could also benefit from joint evangelisation efforts. Also, to say "the Liturgy drives people away" might be oversimplifying a trend that has been happening long before the RDL was a subject of discussion.

Does the liturgy drive people away or bad translations, poor singing, lack of chatechesis, lack of hospitality, lack of vision to grow a parish, lack of ambition? I don't think that the liturgy alone, pre or post RDL, is what drove people away, There has long been a suffragan attitude among the Eastern Catholic churches in the US and other parts of the world because of their unpopular decision to remain under the hierarchy of the pope. Equally, there has been a superiority complex of the Roman church over those Eastern Catholics over the years. Only recently has there been a significant (and it is significant) change of attitudes on both sides. in that mix there has also been a not so subtle cradle vs convert divisiveness that drives people away. Just recently on this very board, there have been comments at those who were not cradle byzantine (Ruthenian) catholics should not comment on what those cradle byzantines felt was inherited knowledge. Talk about tearing communities apart! A similar situation happened in my own parish more than 25 years ago (No RDL to use a a scapegoat then).

Evangelisation should start with each one of us in our very own parish. Do we feel comfortable even mentioning to others that we are Byzantine Catholics? If not, then we will have difficulty broadcasting that to the world.

my humble .00001 cent

Steve

No! The RDL is inauthentic and will not be a successful part of revitalization.

The answer to the question why we are loosing member is that we are afraid of being who we already are. We don�t need to tear down anything. Or come up with vast evangelization strategies. We need to celebrate the Byzantine Divine Services correctly and with enthusiasm. Vespers, Matins and the Divine Liturgy (all without man�s agenda of revision or gender-neutral politics) is what will save us and help us grow.

I have seen the example of ROCOR parishes less then 20 years old that have grown from a handful to a few hundred families. I see the Melkite I now attend parish with growing participation at Vespers and Matins and packed for a full and fairly accurate Divine Liturgy. When the agendas of men are added and made paramount the people leave because they know it has become about them, and that it is no longer about God.

--

I agree with Steve that it is not good to have a defeatist attitude.

Those Byzantine-Ruthenians who cannot stand the RDL should consider joining another Byzantine Catholic Church. I find the RDL so painful and unacceptable I can no longer worship in the Ruthenian Church. But I can worship in the Melkite Church. If the RDL implodes relatively soon I can return to my Ruthenian home. But if it takes longer I can make a home in the Melkite Church. Eventually I can become active there and maybe even contribute something. I recently had a few friends from Ukraine visiting and they described the Melkite Liturgy as �nash with an Arabic flavor� (by the second visit they were even able to sing many of the hymns). I can live with that, especially since their Divine Liturgy is far closer to the official Ruthenian Divine Liturgy then is the RDL.

So I join with Steve and others in recommending that Desert Byzantine consider other Byzantine Catholic parishes.

All of the issues listed can and do drive people away.

Let�s remember that good Liturgy is what gives life to a parish. When people are enlivened by the celebration of the Divine Liturgy the whole parish is enlivened. And the best way to enliven is to celebrate fully and correctly. Only when the Liturgy is vibrant do things like catechesis and hospitality come naturally. Based on the evidence from parishes that have celebrated the rubrical changes in Passaic since 1995 the RDL is a real parish killer.

Many of our bishops, priests, and people still see the Roman Church as superior. And they do not see that Byzantine = Catholic just as much as Roman = Catholic. We still look to the Roman Catholics for our standards rather then to our own legitimate Ruthenian tradition (the RDL is the newest example). There is nothing wrong with who we are (Byzantine Catholics of Ruthenian origin) and as long as we are embarrassed of who we are and keep trying to reinvent ourselves we will fail. People can see that we are not proud but embarrassed and are not attracted. What we need to do is to present the essence of Byzantine Catholicism to America and let America take it and run (like the Slavs took the Liturgy from Greeks and made it a home for themselves).

I believe that Steve is incorrect in what he is stating here. All voices have been welcomed. Yet we have had some new Byzantines indicate that their opinions should be more valued than those with years of experience in various ministries (and that is wrong).

If one was discussing planting a garden one would listen to all opinions about gardening. Yet one would very likely give greater value to the ideas coming from the man who has demonstrated the ability to successfully grow lots of vegetables. And less value to one who is starting his first garden and has yet to produce a crop. In the Church one would expect the same thing. Everyone has the right to speak and be heard. Yet those priests who have been shown to build parishes should rightly find their ideas more valued then either the newly ordained priest or the long time priest who has killed a few parishes (or left them stagnant). The same with deacons, cantors, iconographers, youth leaders, and etc.

Evangelization starts with good Liturgy. Without good Liturgy the people are not fed and there can be no evangelization.

"I believe that Steve is incorrect in what he is stating here. All voices have been welcomed. Yet we have had some new Byzantines indicate that their opinions should be more valued than those with years of experience in various ministries (and that is wrong)."

Good point. Many "cradles" feel that they have been left out of the RDL process, especially the adaptation of the RDL music.

Ungcsertezs

Glory to Jesus Christ!

"Tearing down" or "razing" means precisely some of the points being made in these posts: What is not authentic gets "torn down" but only to be replaced by what is authentic and life giving. The question of course becomes: What is "authentic" and who decides that?

In the meantime I propose that we seek to discover what I like to call the "inner dynamism" of the Liturgy: its character and what it says, what it is about. This something that not even the RDL or any other translation effort can take away. The key to this is integration:

"Good liturgy" is a total, integrated, comprehensive package, not just textual translations alone. It is not just the chant alone sung according to this or that person or group's preference. It is the architecure, acoustics, iconography, participation versus spectating, a rhythm of active and passive participation, the rhythm of movement and gesture such as processions and the way that at times the Liturgy will move in and out of the icon screen. I believe Eastern Liturgy breaths and moves. It is naturally "charismatic," not staid and sterile. It is prostrations, bows, signs of the Cross, gazing at icons, processions. In one moment it is unspeakabley sublime and in another exhilirating. It is about our attitudinal approach to liturgy and how and where we take it as we move out of the Church on Sunday morning.

However, this intregration begins well before we even step into the Church for Divine Liturgy and it extends well after. "Liturgy is life and life is Liturgy." The Eucharist is both the "source and the summit" of our existence. This means that Liturgy both informs life and is informed by life. What we do while actually inside a Church on Sunday morning will be influenced by what we bring to that liturgy. "Good Liturgy" is not contained or achieved simply by what goes on during the time of the Divine Liturgy itself. The Divine Liturgy itself is the high point, much like a bell-curve. "Good Liturgy" has to do with good "life" and good life has to do with more than what goes inside the Church during Liturgy. This includes the Domestic Church and this brings me to the point of "plans or strategies." (These words, "tear down, "raze," "plans," "strategies," are highly inadequate but they are the ones being used for now.)

Plans or strategies simply refer to teaching and being formed in every aspect of our life by a liturgical worldview. Liturgy should inform everything and if it does this brings me to this idea of "Judgement Day" for our Churches. If we are really understanding and indeed having "Good Liturgy" then the rest of our parish life, attitudes toward God, Church, art, architecture, chanting, Holyday observances, youth ministry, life, marriage, family, stewardship, politics, etc. also ought to be consistent with that. However, the fact of the matter is if we stack all of these areas up against what the Liturgy actually models we would find that there is alot lacking and much that indeed needs to be "torn down" and redesigned according to a model that is more authentic,i.e more Biblical and more Liturgical.

When we come to Liturgy, we bring our individual experiences of God together and raise them to God as one voice. If our lives have been truly "liturgical" during the week the voice raised at the Divine Liturgy will indeed be not just "good" liturgy but fantastic, dynamic liturgy! At the same time what goes on during the Divine Liturgy sends us along our way after Liturgy and enables us to live "liturgically."

What has to be torn down? Plenty and fundamentally! If we really examine ourselves we will see that in spirit we are often actually more "American" than "Catholic," more "western" than "Eastern," more "secular" than "liturgical."

Let's look at one tiny example: Although it completely flies in the face of Eucharistic theology, although it segregates what are already tiny parish communities, we persist in parish after parish of having more than one Liturgy on a weekend. Why?--for convenience: Church and God on "my terms" triumphs over the very essence of the Eucharistic theology not to mention our "Eastern Christian Spirituality." We lower the standard of Liturgical theology to accommodate our worst habits of laziness and complacency. Why? so that we can "keep" people? We do not want them to "leave" if things are not convenient enough for them? And God forbid if Liturgy should last more than an hour!! Every time I receive a phone call from someone asking what time our "Mass" is the next question is inevitablely, "How long is it? Is it more than an hour?" My answer is, "Our Divine Liturgy is timeless." I invite any parish that is unnecessarily having more than one Eucharistic celebration in the same parish on Sunday to "tear down" that very UNByzantine, INauthentic, UNeucharisitc custom and try being more authentically "liturgical" and Eucharistic. You will be amazed at your experience of Liturgy. I guarantee it!

The things that need to be "torn down" and replaced by a truly "liturgical worldview" are on the level of our ethos. They are foundational. "Good Liturgy" is about "good life." It is about being eastern and liturgical from the inside out. A "strategy" or "plan" is simply making specific this call to spiritual renewal. It is a return to not only an authentically executed Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning but to an authentic and entire liturgical worldview.

--Fr. Thomas J. Loya, STB, MA.

Shlomo Abun (Fr.) Thomas,

I would be more than honored to help in your effort. I was one of many Eastern Catholic Churches that presented for the for the first time at World Youth Day, in Toronto.

Further, the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon has published the guild that Anthony Dragani wrote, and I modified with permission as the guide to use for evangelization in the Eparchy.

Please feel free to contact me.

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon (Shawn A. Dorisian)