**>>I have no ethnic background or history that is Orthodox or EC. Yet I love the way EC explain their spirituality and the sights and sounds of the DL. **
Hello! A friend sent me the link to this thread after noticing your location. This is a very common experience. You’ll find many who share it at St. Sophia’s.
**>>I feel like it’s not right for me to start attending a UGCC that has people’s parts in Ukrainian and many parishioners are from Ukraine or of Ukrainian descent. **
What about it seems not right? Is it that it feels fake, as if you’re putting on a costume that doesn’t belong to you? The way I think of it is that I’m showing respect for those who have gone before me and have made it possible to worship in this parish. God provides the necessary grace to make up the difference.
There’s a lot of discussion at the parish on which of the people’s parts will be in English going forward and how to incorporate respect for the people who founded the parish and for those who are now coming to it. Father’s position is that the Liturgy will reflect the parishioners’ vernacular. He says if a large group of Chinese show up at the door tomorrow, Liturgy will be in Mandarin next week. He and the deacon are actively working together on how to balance the fact that we have multiple vernaculars and how to integrate that into one liturgical community. Please pray for them.
If you haven’t looked at it in a while, you can check out the new welcome video we put on our website to see a glimpse into the variety of people who attend the parish:
stsophiaukrainian.cc/
**>>I have no EC or Orthodox blood in me – my ancestors were Latin Catholics, protestants, or pagans. **
Many of the people at that church share the same story. I can think of people off the top of my head who go to St. Sophia’s who are black, white, Hispanic, Native American, multiracial, who speak French, Spanish, German, Russian, who know Gregorian chant, who sing Ukrainian folk. So what?
“In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” -Eph 1:5
Genetics is nothing. Christ’s blood is what unites us all. You commune from the same chalice and you’re part of the family.
>>In some respects I feel like I am turning my back on the Latin church even though EC are part of Catholic church.
If you have any anger or animosity or guilt or disappointment in the west, you’ll need to deal with that independent of your learning about the east. Emotions are funny things, though. If we put our lives on a timescale that depended on emotions, we would never get some things done. You can visit Eastern Catholic Churches and pursue that path knowing intellectually that it isn’t betrayal even while feeling that way emotionally. Sometimes we have to stop and face our problems before moving on and sometimes we have to set aside the emotions and move forward despite them. There’s nothing wrong with being open to where God leads, taking it one day at a time.
>>Also wondering if there would ever be an American Byzantine church or will EC’s eventually fade away in US?
The Ukrainians are the largest and probably one of the most diverse of the Eastern Catholic Churches. The UGCC patriarch, for example, speaks Spanish fluently because he was the bishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina until he was appointed patriarch this year. He is also fluent in Polish, Russian, English, Italian, Greek, Latin and Old Slavonic.
The Ukrainian synod of bishops just met in Brazil where they developed a church strategy for now through 2020. The focus is on parish life and evangelization. The patriarch speaks at length about enculturation and the church in the diaspora. The Church in America isn’t going away; it’s just getting started! This is such an amazing and exciting time of renewal and growth in the Ukrainian Catholic Church, both in the United States and around the world!
That means, obviously, that we have some growing still to do. We’re not perfect. But God is still using our Church, and even our parish and our people, to do so many amazing things! Our parish is growing. Our choir is growing. We’re baptizing/chrismating babies and converts into the church. Father’s giving children’s homilies. We’re making more pirogies because more people in the community are joining us. We’re having a parish picnic in the Fall in addition to our Summer patronal feast. We just had a fall festival with pancakes and games and goodies. We helped with water for the homeless during the heat. We help an orphanage in Ukraine. We’re starting a catechesis program for all ages this Fall. There are so many amazing things going on and more are underway. This* is* the Church in America doing the work of God in accordance to the traditions handed down from the apostles through Constantinople’s evangelization of the Grand Prince Volodymyr and his baptism of the Rus’ and from there people came to the United States all the way to The Colony, TX where they could share the same apostolic faith with you and me. It’s humbling to think of God’s providence.
>>Anyone else have these thoughts?
I think it is very normal to have conflicting thoughts, worries, questions, and fears. You don’t need to resolve these before you go; you need to go in order to resolve them. You know, morally and intellectually, that there is no sin in following these nudges you’re getting to find out more. So go to the church, participate in the Liturgy, talk to the priest, meet some of the people, enjoy the coffee and snacks, pray for direction, and see where God leads the next day, then follow His will. Really, what else is there to do when the Lord puts something like this on your heart? Many of us share this particular leg of the journey with you. I encourage you to contact Fr. Pavlo and see where God leads next. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
It can be a challenge since we have different feast days etc., but I work around that.