Called to the East. Help and advice please?

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St.JohntheForerunner

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I’m a Latin Catholic, for about a year I’ve been thinking of the East, and I feel called more and more. Though unfortunately there are no Eastern Catholic Churches where I am. The closest is 4 hours away, and I’m hard pressed. I live in North Louisiana, which is home to only Orthodox when it comes to Eastern Christianity. Maybe start up a mission? Advice for practice? Should I try and just pray alone or try and reach out to the few Eastern Catholics that may or may not be here.
 
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I’m speaking as an Eastern Orthodox and by no means would dare try to sway you in either direction.

I would advice that you try attending Vespers at the local Orthodox Church. If they are anything like my parish, they would be open to visitors. This way you are able to experience and learn about the East but still go to Mass to meet your obligation.

ZP
 
The Orthodox are not in full communion with the Holy See. Most Orthodox priests will not hear your confession nor give you communion since you’re Catholic.

As ZP posted, you’d still have to attend Mass at your parish to fulfill your Sunday/HD obligation.

True story: This past Saturday, a young man in a black suit & tie came to my Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish. We hit it off nicely. He said he was RC but wanted to attend the Divine Liturgy, quoting PJPII (wow! 😱) about the Church breathing with two lungs. He sat next to me in church and was kind enough to read the Epistle! After Liturgy, Father thanked him for reading the Epistle.

On Sunday (yesterday), a RC couple came to our church. Again, this was the first time they had ever attended a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church. However, I didn’t see them after Liturgy.
 
I’m Orthodox and have a similar issue. I still feel called to the East, but am drawn to Catholicism. There are no Eastern Catholic parishes anywhere near me. Though I do have access to TLM and Ordinariate parishes, which are nice, but not my preference, by any means. I’m 99.5% more comfortable and in love with the Divine Liturgy and Eastern everything. I’ve been finding myself attending masses and still going to Divine Liturgy with my family.
 
When we had vespers available on Saturday we always went and learned so much. If you have that opportunity, I have envy!
 
I’ll be praying for you! I do love Catholicism, and I feel you will too. I also pray for unity one day!
 
Hi @St.JohntheForerunner. Welcome to the Eastern Catholic subforum!

Out of curiosity, why do you feel drawn to the East? And which “East” do you feel drawn to (Byzantine, Syriac, Coptic…)? What is it that you feel is drawing you in our direction?
 
Well I’ve done a lot of looking beginning a year ago. I love the West, but just as a person I’ve loved the East slightly more. I was considering being an EO before I became Catholic. I’m interested in the Byzantine Rite, and potentially the Maronite Rite. Both are relatively close by (4 hours, as Opposed to 10 or 20 hours). I also love the spirituality of the East. I love icons and the Divine Liturgy (the ones I’ve watched online).
 
Thanks for sharing.

This will sound odd coming from someone who has made the move from West to East, but I honestly advise caution moving forward. Not because I think the move isn’t worth it (in my case, it has been more than worthwhile), but because without the support of a specifically Eastern Catholic community it’ll be hard for you to grow in the Faith as an Eastern Catholic. Plus, to my knowledge, no Eastern Catholic bishop would accept you into his church sui iuris if you’re not tied to an Eastern Catholic community and regularly (i.e. weekly) participating in the life of that community.

That being said, the East has always had a strong influence on the West (whether the explicit influence of the early Church, or the more dormant influence of later centuries). Why not continue studying the writings and spirituality of the Christian East and bringing that to bear on your life as a Western/Roman Catholic?
 
I wish we could focus on the many things we have in common as opposed to the differences …
 
No one is talking about differences here. We’re simply talking about a matter of preference.

But there are legitimate differences between the Catholic West and the Catholic East. Not differences in the core essentials of the Faith, of course, but differences pretty much everything else, and in how we approach the Faith.
 
CoffeeFanatic said:
I’m Orthodox and have a similar issue. I still feel called to the East, but am drawn to Catholicism. There are no Eastern Catholic parishes anywhere near me. Though I do have access to TLM and Ordinariate parishes, which are nice, but not my preference, by any means. I’m 99.5% more comfortable and in love with the Divine Liturgy and Eastern everything. I’ve been finding myself attending masses and still going to Divine Liturgy with my family.
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As an ordinariate member, I know that many of my fellow ordinarians have some/many connections to Eastern Catholics, with an occasional priest incardinated in one singing Mass or Divine Liturgy in the other. Ask around to see if there are any who would be interested in starting an Eastern Catholic community. If you are not a member of The Byzantine Forum already, I suggest you start there - that is how I came in contact with the founder of the San Antonio community, who subsequently recruited others via other means.

(I was one of the first members of a Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic community in San Antonio, which included a few parishioners of the then Pastoral Provision, now ordinariate parish. Our first priest was a biritual Dominican priest who spent a decade as an Orthodox monk. Many San Antonio Byzantines were in attendance at the Maronite church prior to the Byzantine community’s formation who occasionally attended Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, the Pastoral Provision parish. After seven years of attendance at the Byzantine community, I discerned my spirituality is still with the West and decided against a formal transfer from the Latin Catholic Church sui juris to the Ruthenian Catholic Church sui juris. As I understand it, the San Antonio community is now under the care of the Melkites. I still attend Eastern Catholic parishes as available, however, and have served as an altar server in the Ruthenian Church - I have been to Maronite, Ruthenian, Melkite-Greek, and Syro-Malabar parishes and am interested in attending more, particularly Armenian and Chaldean.)
 
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St.JohntheForerunner said:
Maybe start up a mission?
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4 hours travel time says “Start up a mission!”

But do some pilgrimages to Monasteries first, and talk with people…

Find an Abbot who will give you a prayer rule you can live with…

Then do not live without it…

geo
 
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