www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Does this Forum appear to be "dead" in terms discussions?

Father Serge is greatly missed.

I have worked, as a teacher, with what are now the "Nones" who don't seem to believe much of anything outside themselves. I would like to hope that is not the way the country is going, but I could be very wrong on that. It isn't looking good for the future, and I don't think that is just age talking.

My understanding is that web forum use is down all over the internet as much discussion energy has moved to Facebook and somewhat less to Twitter.

Again I agree with Charles.
Unfortunately, I do not think that you are wrong on the bleak future of this country as far as the self centerdness of the younger generations.
It is not coincidental that words like 'honor' is no where in our lexicon anymore.

My real concern regarding the forum is that no one wants to even discuss chocolate and food!

*That* is a MOST disturbing trend..... !!

Neither would Father Serge wish to discuss chocolate all that much (he was a diabetic like me).

It is certainly valid to decry this or that famous poster from the past - this forum has had its share of truly great ones and one wonders why they no longer post.

It may also be that the idea that we somehow influence the course of events in our Churches through posting here is one that has been laid bare as the pipe dream it is. Our Churches are no closer to reunion than they were ten or a thouand years ago - so what is the point of discussing the items that still divide us?

Eastern and Latin Catholics do tend to get very excited by ecumenical talks with the Orthodox. From our perspective, we tend to be naive about how little we differ from them and if only we did this or that, well then, unity would be effected!

And that is downright silly. We cannot/should not downplay the real differences between us, so real, in fact, that they keep us in actual estrangement and schism from one another. There is also no uniform view of Catholics, Eastern or Latin, by Orthodoxy. The Orthodox are not always the benign people we make them out to be, "Catholics without the Filioque, the Marian dogmas, Purgatory and the Pope" but otherwise just fine!

How we are viewed by the Orthodox, our naive "Orthodox in communnion with Rome" members notwithstanding, is another matter. The separation couldn't be any stronger if Donald Trump built an actual wall between us.

I think the forum's goals, initially, were to see how we could all, through discussion, overcome at our lay level, the differences that divide us or else by overcoming "Latinizations," to get rid of what divides us ritually and in every which way.

We've learned that talk can be quite ineffectual in that regard.

Alex

Amen! I am leaving in a few minutes to restock my supply of dark chocolate. My cupboard is not bare like Mother Hubbard's, but it is getting low.

Charles - lack of good dark chocolate is never good

Make sure your cupboards are well stocked - though the time when it is sooo very useful is still a while away [ Philip's Fast } though it will be here sooner than we expect judging by the way the year has flown by

Chocolate is like inspiration from the Holy Spirit ----it shoulc be consumed and absorbed, not simply talked about.

I've been surprised there hasn't been even a single "AXIOS!" for the ordination of Fr. Sebastian Carnazzo, not even from any Melkites...

Is Father Carnazzo a chocolate fan? If so, AXIOS!!!

Alex

Very wise Abbess. How fortunate to have such a person to mentor you. It has taken me a long time to figure out the same, through much prayer and contemplation.

That would be nice. No sarcasm, or belittling newbie's stupid questions or spiritual crises.

It is a great deal more boring than it used to be.

Dear Carson,

Was it always boring?

Alex

No!

Frankly, I cannot comment that much because I hadn't visited this Forum for a number of months until today.

I think this trend can be found, to a certain degree, in most other Fora. And, as a number of you pointed out, social media such as Facebook do not help.

Having said that, I'll contact a friend of mine on FB to share a link about this Forum in Orthodox/Eastern Catholic Groups on Facebook. Perhaps, some might be inclined to join or contribute.

Finally, I'm posting this link about one of the most renowned Vaticanists, Sandro Magister, who albeit not often, posts interesting articles about the Eastern Churches which could perhaps lead to discussions on Byzcath.

http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/chiese_orientali?eng=y