“Go East, young man”: Why this Latin Catholic turned Byzantine

Aleteia ^ | 09-09-2016 | John Burger

[NRx]

A little-appreciated facet of the Catholic Church is the true diversity of Eucharistic liturgies available to Catholics, who are offered many forms and rites to meet their spiritual needs. In the coming weeks, Aleteia will feature pieces by Catholics writing on how and why a particular liturgy speaks most deeply to their spirit, and their worship. Here, Aleteia news editor John Burger shares what he loves about the Byzantine Divine Liturgy.

As we await the beginning of the service, we are deep in conversation—not with other people in church, but with those represented in the images before us.

There is Christ, for example, who said once, “My sheep hear my voice.” There is his Mother, pointing to her Son. She once said, “Do whatever he tells you.” There are icons of the Apostles, gathered around Christ at the Last Supper. Images of persons who trod the earth with Jesus, and members of the Communion of Saints who have a special place in our heart.

They all have something to tell us, and as we come to church this morning, carrying the cares of life, they speak to us anew, leading us to a deeper understanding of what role those burdens play in the plan God has for us.

Father ______, who has been prayerfully preparing to once again take us to that Mystical Supper that is depicted in the icon high above us, opens the central doors from inside the sanctuary and bows to Christ’s faithful. We stand and bow in return. Those doors, called the Royal Doors, have something to say as well: they are illustrated with icons of the Four Evangelists...

[NRx]

FTR this is not about Roman Catholics converting to Eastern Orthodoxy, it is about a Latin Rite Catholic migrating to one of the suis juris Eastern Rite churches in communion with the Pope.

[opus1]

Good clarification, some people have just never been exposed to the differences. What I love about the Byzantine rite is the focus on Theotokos.

[Torahman]

Not East! You must go South young man: to Israel, the Land and Home of the Nazarene. We would indeed be well advised to heed his mothers words of “Do whatever he tells you.” Near the end of his most famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’ he said, “Do not think I have come to abolish the Torah; I came not to abolish, but fulfill, for until heaven and earth pass away not one jot shall pass from the Torah until all prophecy has been fulfilled.” He lived his entire life modeling and teaching the Torah, as did his disciples. If you’re going to go back, go all the way back to the Yesod, the foundation, the Torah.

[The KG9 Kid]

We have a few Christians from this new ‘Hebrew Roots’ movement in our shul’s Hebrew language and Talmud study classes who told several of us they left whatever Christian church they came from because they took exactly that message to heart. Meaning, all that stuff you wrote in your post.

Nobody says anything negative behind their backs to my knowledge, but the responses they got to their declaration amounted to “Oh. Okay.”. Rabbi thinks they’re nice. They pitch in to the coffee and bagels with schmear fund.

[Campion]

And when it's fulfilled, those parts of Torah that were instituted as penance for the golden calf are abrogated because they've served their purpose. Even some of your own sages say that the ceremonial law is done away with in the time of Messiah. Well, Christians think we're living in the time of Messiah.

BTW, the Byzantine Rite descends directly from the liturgy of the Church of Jerusalem, so it is in a sense "going to Israel".

[opus1]

Very interesting, good ideas to ponder, thanks so much for your comments!