Maronite Brainstorming

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Phillip_Rolfes said:
As human persons, we need the Faith to speak to us on an emotional level as much as on a reasonable level.
Thoughts?
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Do NOT, then, for ANY reason whatsoever, even entertain the possibility of this idea that might somehow be proffered in your direction - eg The idea that reading Elder Aimillianos: The Way of the Spirit" may find a compelling home in your heart…

And if anyone were to say, that if you read this work, you will find your heart ripped out of its moorings and handed to you as a fluttering bird singing sweet liturgies, then FLEE from that person at all costs…

I warned my Priest about it, and he had a couple of years of books to read backed up on his waiting list, so I said to him: “Above all else, do NOT just pick up this book and read the first two paragraphs!” But did he listen to me??? No, he did not… Two measly little paragraphs… He got no sleep that night, and focused on it alone with his enquirer/catechism classes for the next three months…

So stay away from this book, ok?

My thoughts!

geo
 
Hahahahahahahaha!!!

It’s $35, otherwise I’d be sorely tempted. 😆
 
Phillip_Rolfes said:
How can we Eastern Catholics - … - seriously begin evanglizing the people and culture around us?
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The culture around us is hostile and dangerous, especially in Muslim countries, and under Sharia Law… In these, one must approach this Faith as a clandestine operation behind enemy lines, cloaking it in invisibility, and not physically approaching anyone for conversion…

This means becoming perfected in prayer and repentance, conjoined with God, and moving in the hidden Mysteries of contact and conversion in deep prayer… Externally, becoming a Spiritual opportunist for rendering kindness and more - eg the healing of the sick, casting our demons, and on and on - will let people find out what you are about… No magic shows, but wonderworking where needed… And this requires total commitment to God… It does not accompany average parish piety, but the narrow and straited Way… And asking God if He even WANTS you to evangelize…

I serve in a smallish mission Church, and we do not do much outreach, but we pray for our mission, and it grows - People find us… Word gets around… We pray for our community…

Walking the Path of Sainthood is a good way to evangelize…

Whatever the culture…

geo
 
Tolle_Lege said:
Eastern Catholics may have the most success in evangelizing (not sure if that is the right word, perhaps it’s more of educating?) Latin Rite Catholics
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I wouldn’t call transferring a Catholic from one Rite to the other Evangelization…

I think both Rites should focus in lapsed Catholics and new converts.
 
George720 said:
Walking the Path of Sainthood is a good way to evangelize…

Whatever the culture…
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“Acquire the Holy Spirit and a thousand around you will be saved.”

As more and more Catholic (and Orthodox) apostolates and ministries spring up, St. Seraphim’s words ring ever fresh in my heart. We don’t need another ministry or apostolate, another program or a “fresh approach,” we need what the Church has always needed - saints.

We need “holy nobodies” - those everyday saints who quietly live out their vocation out of love for the Lord (whether that vocation is to marriage or the religious life). Lately I’m becoming more and more convinced that the greatest saints aren’t the officially canonized saints, but those anonymous saints that we celebrate on All Saints Day.
 
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One thing that seems to ring true about our Eastern Rites (and the Eastern Orthodox) is more direct path to the early Church Fathers. The West often filters them through the lens of scholasticism, it seems. The ways of the Desert Fathers and Mothers are also more pronounced in the East, and they seemed to live the type of “holy nobody” life that you mention.
 
Indeed. I’ve spent the last four or five years studying the writings and sayings of the Desert Fathers, and it amazes me how pronounced their influence is in the Syriac and Coptic traditions. The Byzantines (Orthodox included) tend to filter them a little more through the lens of gasp Greek philosophy, but not to the extent to which the West filters them through the lens of scholastic theology. But their presence is still there and can be easily discerned in the West for those who know how to look for it. 😉

Plus, as far as the West is concerned, the greatest theologians of the 20th Century were the “Resourcement” theologians like Danielou, Congar, von Balthasar, de Lubac, Bouyer, and Ratzinger who went back straight the Patristic sources and unearthed for us a treasure trove of spiritual wisdom and insight into the Faith.
 
The idea of not filtering all theology through Scholastic thought, not relying on reason so much, interests me as there are subjects I admit I get troubled over regarding doctrine. The idea that I don’t need to figure it out, that it’s a mystery, is very reassuring. And it helps me understand why I know it to be true without explaining it.
 
StudentMI said:
I don’t need to figure it out,
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I love pointing out to Latin Scholastics citing their authority as it is explicated in the on-line Catechism of the Catholic Church, the epistemological prerequisite for knowledge of theological truth is repentance…

Without self-denial there is no known theological truth…

Knowing God is Theology - Just as it IS Life Eternal…

Most theologians never speak of theology…

Their vocabulary is silence…

Silence is not a strong presence in the on-line catechism…

geo
 
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