www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Starting a Byzantine Catholic Mission in my City

Slava Isusu Christu!


I am a Byzantine Catholic that lives in Ketchikan, Alaska of which there is no Byzantine Catholic Church. I receive the
Holy Mysteries at the Roman Church, but the priest there said that he would do everyhting he can to help me practice my Eastern Catholic faith. He said that he was going to place an ad in the Sunday bulletin asking if there are any other Eastern Catholics in the Parish. Some may not even know that they are Eastern Catholic because their parents just went to the Roman Church after their kids were Baptised in the Byzantine Church. I know that this will be a great opportunity to promote our Eastern Catholic Faith and I know that the Lord is getting me ready to really practice the meaning of my Chrismation.

What is need is a lot of suggestion, of which would be helpful to other to, on how to begin to develop a Byzantine Catholic Prayer Group, how to lead prayers, get the Roman priest involved in officiating at prayer services liturgies. I need a whole lot of information so please be quite liberal, in a good way, in your suggestions!

Father Steve Greskowiak the pastor at St. Nicholas in Anchorage, Alaska is my pastor and I know that he will help me and I am under him and will obey him. So any suggestions to help me in evangelization. I know on Byzantines.net they have some resources, but they are not enough. So let me have it.

In Our Lady of Mariapoch

Hello there!

Ummmm, starting a parish/mission? Placing an ad is a good start! I would think it's mostly in word of mouth. But putting in bulletin in all the parishes in your Roman diocese would be great too. What about your Roman diocese newspaper (I assume every Roman Diocese have newspapers of their own)?

But MOST IMPORTANT advice of all is, find out which Eparchy (Diocese) of Alaska falls into. When you do find out which Eparchy, then contact this Bishop there and ask him if there's a Byzantine priest nearby who can come like maybe once a month for Divine Liturgy or prayer service. This Eparchy have the power to create or close parishes/missions. So, this would be your best bet. This Eparchy will have all the resources that you may need to establish a parish/mission, if they see fit.

Also, my other good advice is to contact the local bishop of Roman Church that you are in and express your desires and concerns to him. He may help you out? But of course the Roman bishop wouldn't have any jurdiction over a Byzantine parish, the Byzantine bishop would be the man for it, so go to him first.

Of course with all the investigation, searching, etc, will take some time. A tip from the wise, don't rush. Satan likes to rush. So take your time, it will all happen in GOD'S TIME.

I, too, am in the process of helping my Byzantine Priest establish a parish/mission. But we haven't started yet. I am also open for any ideas, suggestions and comments. I think it's good that rutheniancatholic asked this great question. Because of many immigrants and population growth, there's a need for more Byzantine Parishes. So it's good we bring this subject up so we can talk about it.

I can't say the name of my city yet, but please pray for us. I will pray for you guys too. May God's Holy Will be done. God bless you.

spdundas

[This message has been edited by spdundas (edited 10-11-1999).]

Father Steve is a great Priest. I believe all of Alaska falls under Bishop George in the Van Nuys Eparchy. Start in your home or at the local R.C. Parish. That is what we did down here in Olympia, WA. After 10 years we have a great full time priest, a beautiful Temple, and a vivrant community. It just takes prayer, hard work, promote, promote, promote, and a priest who wants to help!!! Thank God we had Mitred Archpriest Joseph Stanichar who put in the miles and time. Get a hold of a video called "Eastern Catholic Churhes". This is a GREAT "marketing" tool - 12 minutes long - packed with info for the uneducated!!! We just got a new small booklet about the Eastern Rites with tons of information. It is called "Eastern Catholics in the United States of America" by the Commitee on the relationship between Eastern and Latin Catholic Churches - National Confrence of Catholic Bishops. Publication No. 5-287. No different than sales - well almost. Some will stay, some won't, and so..well we can't save every one. Get a group going. Enlighten the people!! Paise be Jesus Christ. Oh yeh, you don't even have to be Ruthenian Byzantine to get it going. Our family is just in the beginning of the process to change our rite after 6 years of enjoying the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Faith!!! It is farily simple to get it going!! Get out and work.

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

I thank you very much for your reply! I know that God is going to move here in Ketchikan and that He will bring people into His Church. I am glad that Christ is my helper. I trust the Lord! I know that if I do the work of God that he will bless it. I have a few Byzantine materials one hand am I am coordinating with the Roman priest in town and my Pastor Father Steve. There is something about the Byzantine Catholic Faith that is so dynamic. I think people are getting tired of western Christianity and when they hear about the east they light up.
May God Enlighten many through the Holy Mysteries! I am not a wealthy well educated person, but if God can raise up the most unlikely people (see: Bible) then he can use me, an unworthy servant. I don't have alot of means, but if Christ can multiply fish and loaves and can still the storm well praise him, he can raise up Byzantine Catholic Churches throughout our Nation. It seems to me that when the people are complaining about jurisdicitonal problems and all that, souls are dying and people are leaving this earth without knowing Christ and experiencing His Love and Power in their lives. My I truly live the Gospel of Jesus Christ! My I show love to all people! I pray to God that I will live the Grace of my Chrismation to uphold my Baptismal Vows! I want to experience God buring in my breast like the Hesychasts! May the Holy Ghost fill us all with His Power! We won't need apologetics anymore if we just let God the Holy Ghost fill us and enlighten our minds and give us words to say. That that same Spirit that raised Christ Our God from the dead may dwell in our hearts and minds!

Thank you again for your assistance!

May the Holy Trinity bless us and grant us many happy years!

In Jesus Lover of Mankind

>>>It is called "Eastern Catholics in the United States of America" by the Commitee on the relationship between Eastern and Latin Catholic Churches - National Confrence of Catholic Bishops. Publication No. 5-287.<<<

This publication is now on line at:
http://www.cin.org/east/eastcathamer.html

Joe Prokopchak
"Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me a sinner".

Joe,

Cool! Thanks for the links to CIN.

Wow Pat, you sound like a Marketing person. I've got some background of that in my degree. Anyway, it's great idea to present video.

I've done that before. I went to a local Catholic university chapel that meets weekly on various topics on Catholicism. I presented a talk about Eastern Catholicism and shown a video that lasted 20 minutes. It was a good video. Perhaps it's the same video you have. I also bought many Holy Ikon Cards to give out to people. I also brought my Ikons to show people. And very recently I have my Byzantine Priest give a talk on Eastern CAtholic Spirituality, I even learned a lot from it!

Pat, can you give me the title of that video that you have? And what is the address for this booklet, so perhaps I could order a bulk of them to pass out?

Thanks. Please continue on with this thread so you could give us some advices and keep sharing information about various materials, places or person that we can get a hold of to promote it.

So, rutheniancatholic, keep your chin up and keep up the good work! God bless you!

spdundas

ruthiancatholic:

How is everything going with an establishment of Byzantine Parish. I know it's way too early for me to ask, however, I am VERY interested to see how it progresses.

If you don't mind, you could update me on your progress and experiences you're having by e-mailing me at spdundas@aol.com

I also would like to share with you on my experiences and progresses as we establish a Byzantine Parish here in town (I can't say the name of the town here).

I hope we would be in touch with each other on this. God bless you.

spdundas