www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization New Forum

Greetings,

I am interested in starting a forum for those of us who are seminarians or seminary teachers or those studying for some ministry in the Byzantine church. I envision this set up the same way as the deacons forum. The Administrator tells me if I can find 3 or 4 interested people we can get it going. Let me know if you would be interested.

Peter M. Preble

Dear Brother Peter,

I have a couple of questions which I would be most appreciative if you could answer. They'll help me know if I am/should be interested. :p

Is this new forum of yours intended *only* for seminarians/seminary instructors, or does its scope include those who may seriously think they have a calling to serve the Church in such ministry, but aren't at the seminary level yet? (In other words, though I hesitate to suggest that it be a "Vocations" forum, is it something that those who seriously think/believe/perceive that they might have a vocation can join in on?)

Is the proposed forum open to those of other Eastern Catholic/Orthodox Churches, or is it specifically for Byzantine Catholics and geared toward their particular experiences?

Thanks!

I would be interested but I would fall into the group that Mor Ephrem describes.

As one who fits this description, "those who may seriously think they have a calling to serve the Church in such ministry, but aren't at the seminary level yet?" or at any ministry training level yet.


David

[ 08-29-2002: Message edited by: Johanam ]

Greetings to all of you,

I think that this forum should be open to all who fell that they have a call, not just Byzantine, but eastern, and maybe even Latin.

It is important that those of us who feel we have a call, get support from each other. For many of us, like me, we will be isolated during our seminary study, and will not have much contact with others. Lets get things started and see where it goes from there.

Peter

Amend that to read "who (seriously) feel they may have the call", and then sign me up. :p

(Pardon me, that's just my unsurety talking )

[ 04-17-2002: Message edited by: Mor Ephrem ]

I am glad to see that there are people open to discerning a vocation to serve the Lord and his Church. So far, however, I do not see enough interest to justify a separate, closed forum. Let's see how this thread progresses.

How about a monk who will be teaching (Latin) seminarians?

That's what I'll be up to next school year. Right now I'm in graduate school getting my masters in systematic theology. I have to admit, being at a largely progressive "Catholic" university with mainly lay people, I have had a hard time of it and sometimes wonder if I'll finish. Seems like I am constantly defending and justifying my existence (and those like me: i.e. clergy). The recent scandals in the church have made things worse.

PAX

Benedictine

I'll be studying at St. Vladimir's Seminary in the fall, and would be happy to participate.

In Christ,

anastasios

Dear Benedictine,

Scandals or not, if everyone followed the spirit of the Rule of St Benedict . . .

The Church is still the Church and it will weather this storm, to be sure.

Alex

Are you sure Alex?

Look where following the "spirit of Vatican II" has gotten our Western brothers.


david

[ 04-17-2002: Message edited by: DavidB ]

OK, now that we have a few who have expressed interest in a possible new forum we need to have a discussion on 1) what discussions will a new private forum allow that a public forum will not, 2) whether such a forum should be a free for all (with an inactive moderator) or whether the forum should have a moderator who can assist people discerning vocations and 3) should such a forum be restricted to offical seminarians or open to anyone discerning a vocation (The Deacon's Door is restricted to active ordained deacons and their wives and official deacon candidates and their wives).

Please provide input. This idea still needs much serious discussion.

Dear David,

What was it that our Lord said in the Gospels?

Something about the gates of hell not prevailing against His Church?

I don't know about you, but I take Him at His Word.

Alex

Dear Administrator,

Speaking as a failed vocation, if indeed I ever had one at all, I think that a service to help people discern a vocation would be truly invaluable.

It would make such a forum unique and a powerful support for those seeking assistance in the matter.

Alex

1. Being inexperienced with this sort of thing, I honestly don't know what benefit(s) a private forum would have over a public one. In fact, this is a thought I had the other day. Hence, I leave this to others who may know of such a benefit. The only thing I can think of is possibly that an open forum might be "hijacked" on occasion to deal with a thread that might not have to do with vocations. But that's the only thing I can think of, so...

2. As Alex says, providing/finding a moderator who could help people through the process of discerning a vocation would be a great help to many, myself especially included. Exactly how practical that is, I don't know...part of me says that since there probably isn't a lot of "online spiritual direction" that goes on, it might not be the most practical thing to find someone like that; on the other hand, I think that there are people who, through getting to know the person online, provided they are honest in being who they really are both offline and online (actually, this is another and better reason for a closed forum...greater anonymity could lead to greater honesty, which would be much more productive in discerning a vocation), could help out the participants if they needed such help in discerning a vocation...an impartial person, balanced in outlook, spiritual, all those good qualities and more would be great.

3. I think I partially answered this already. I would hope that this new forum could encompass not only those among us on the road to ordination or the monastic life definitely, but also those among us (like me) who aren't sure exactly, but certainly do feel that "something" might be there.