www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization We need an Eastern Catholic website!

Go out into the highways and byways and bring them in.

Stuart, I must be getting soft but I completely agree with you once again.

CDL

That is why we need to be on the information superhighway. People don't go out much anymore, the google stuff. Why limit ourselves to one way? I'm not saying we shouldn't evangelize on the street, but we also need to have a presence on the web.

You know what, I'm not a theologian, I'm a business person. As much as I get the concepts of spirituality that lead to this, I do not agree with it. We need to do our "marketing" and "promotions". The Apostles stood in marketplaces and preached because that was how you do it back then. Today we have the internet, let us make use of it.

Do we have to compete with the RCs? YES WE DO! They are a much larger organization and more organized and they have all this evangelization efforts. We need people going to schools and doing talks, we need people having symposiums and stuff. It is a friendly competition, but a competition nonetheless. We can't just sit back and hope someone wanders into our parishes. Fishermen don't sit in the boat waiting for fish to jump in, they cast their nets and they move their boats around to catch fish.

We can't and shouldn't compete because we have a different product. We will never reach people with a Roman liturgy with funny exceptions. Constantine, have you ever attended an Eastern Temple that looked like a barren RC Church. There are many churches in Michigan and Ohio that look like a poor man's RC Church including Saturday evening "masses". It won't work.

Why are we talking about competeing with RC's? There is no need to compete and I agree we should'nt build on anothers foundation, its wrong to do that. Perhaps it was because I talked about having icon and information stalls at the novenas? hmmm

Well just the other day we had St.Elizabeths Orthodox convent visit my local Roman parish and gave a talk on their charity in Minsk. It's not about picking off Romans to come to Our Church but rather educating the community about the diversity of Our Byzantine rite but if it would only cause tension then probably best avoided. Whats wrong with having all the different ritual churches on the one country? America does it and it seems fine. Perhaps there are Roman Catholics out there like myself who feel more eastern in their theology and feel a calling to become eastern? is that a problem?

The truth is that Eastern Catholics have been "picked off" by the Romans since we entered the USA. It's canonically illegal and unconscionable....but it is fact. A good constructive step would for the USCCB to stop, apologize, and encourage the descendants of those "picked off" to return to their ancestral Churches.

This will all happen about the time President Obama apologizes for infringing on religious liberty.

Recognizing that neither of these will ever happen, we move on doing the best we can and accepting our cross with grace.

Not to mention that the Cleveland Diocesan Bishop certainly doesn't have the highest of approval ratings with his leadership, either. The Vatican insisted that those that parishes that appealed be reopened, etc... So there's an example of when RC leadership goes wrong. However, Bishop John shut down about 2 or 3 Byzantine Churches, and nobody complained about those closings, in fact, they think he's the best bishop the Eparchy of Parma had in quite some time. It was Bishop Andrew Pataki (R.I.P.) that had leadership that wasn't exactly popular.

Nothing like face to face marketing

Of course we should compete! The only way we'd every do a better job is if we do. The reason we're so poor at Evangelization is we're taking the back seat because it has been beaten into our brains that we're guests here in the diaspora and that this is Roman Catholic territory. Well, if we will stick to that mentality then you know, we need to start drawing up plans how to close off our parishes once our current memeberishp dies off. We can't rely in immigration forever. And we can't rely on ethnic identity forever. 2, 3, 4 generations down the line, they won't identify with the identity of their ancestors, their identity will be North American. We can't rely on the few like me and some here who happen to be really into the faith and discovered Eastern Catholicism and then against all odds, tried to thrive in a heavily ethnic parish. There is not a lot of that!

Look, not every Roman Catholic is "on fire" in the faith. Many of them go to church because that is how they were brought up. Is our interest here about parish membership and Sunday envelopes? Yeah, partly you can say that. But ultimately our purpose is the salvation of souls. So what good is it for an RC to sit in the pew every Sunday daydreaming about something and not pay attention to Mass? Maybe the Eastern praxis is best for them, maybe they will be "on fire" if they go to our Church.

I was deeply troubled when I went to a friend's and another a cousin's Evangelical communities. They were filled with Filipinos like myself. Not too long ago, 80% of Filipinos were Roman Catholics. A lot of these Evangelicals were Roman Catholics back home. But here in Canada they are being attracted by other Filipinos into these communities away from the Catholic Church. So is this really competition with the RCs? Would we rather have them become Evangelicals than Eastern Catholics? Those RCs who love the Latin faith will never leave it for anything. But those who would, let us offer them a great alternative, rather than leave the Catholic Church.

And of course it is not just RCs we should be looking to. But it is a start. Evangelicals love proselytizing RCs because it is easier to convince them that Jesus is God. It is harder if they have to convince a Muslim or Buddhist. Right now it is not about "you're wrong, we're right", but rather if they need a different perspective on the faith, we're here. And they don't have to leave the Church to do it.

I can go with your angle about rekindling fire into what seems like a dimmed spiritual feeling among current Roman Catholics. If they happen to feel the zeal again, via Evangelicalism, more power to them. I'd be more after the likes of those who are either Mormon, or Jehovah's Witnesses. Those two are probably at the forefront of evangelization.

However, with my brief experience with a Latin rite evangelization group, they're going after the wrong sheep: Protestants, and current RCs, blindly, in a way. We need to find those who really need the word of God, and salvation (e.g. those who don't know Him).

If we believe God is everywhere present, filling all things, then we shouldn't worry about the current flock who are a little off track, if I may choose my words wisely.

Better yet, now I know it's impossible to have Dual-Rite Catholics that are parishioners in both a Roman and a Byzantine Church, but it is possible to be registered and an active member in one Rite in the Church, and worship at least part-time in another Rite, which might boost faith in the Catholic Church. Since we "breathe with both lungs" by having a Latin and an Eastern Rite, it's important for those that don't know about the other Rite to get at least partially involved. This is why, even though I'm of the Latin Rite, to at least attend one or two Divine Liturgies per month in an Eastern Rite Church, while attending Masses the rest of the month in the Latin Church. This way, you will get the whole spiritual experience, and get the message of the Gospel and Homily from both sides of the coin. This could work.

The idea of competing with RCs is like trying to be better than them. Nonsense. We aren't in the same market. The Churches that do it look Roman and seem silly.

I don't agree, sorry. Not just because one shows up to Church every Sunday doesn't mean they do not need evangelization. They may be physically appearing to be with the flock, but spiritually they are lost.

And it can also be said to the current flock of our own parishes. Many of them could be there for cultural reasons. Maybe they need to be reinvigorated as well.

I'm not saying we focus on one group, but we need a starting point. We need to be known. I'm not saying we actively proselytize RCs, but maybe some of them are already looking for alternatives and we can show them there is an alternative within the Church. Yes, JWs and Mormons are good targets as well. I've invited a nice JW couple into my home once and they didn't have a clue about Eastern Catholicism. Too bad they didn't come back, would be nice to talk with them again. I am more knowledgable now and maybe I can get them into our parish. They will certainly be an asset.

Going after disaffected Latins is like robbing Peter to pay Andrew. Also, many of those disaffected in the West would be even more disaffected with us. I would prefer to go after the unchurched, so as to avoid what Paul described as "plowing in another man's field".