Burger Joints and Byzantine Churches
Posted by Karl (May 29, 2006 at 3:43 pm)
Imagine that you lived in a town where there was a McDonald’s on one corner, a Burger King on another corner, a White Castle down the road, and a Culver’s next door to that. Do you think it would be a good idea, if you were an investor, to start up another hamburger stand? It would be very hard to succeed as just another place to get a fast-food burger. Such a move would be unwise. What you should do is start a submarine sandwich store, something that is different, unusual enough to attract customers.
How does this relate to Byzantine Churches? For most of the last century, we have been building burger stands in Burgertown. Due to persecution from Roman Catholics, self-doubt, and an understandable desire to fit in, Byzantine Catholics in the United States have attempted to be like Roman Catholics. Let me give you an example:
God has a sense of humor. Whenever there is an attack against the Church, there always seems to be a feast day on the liturgical calendar that directly addresses the attack. Such is the case today. On the weekend when The Da Vinci Code is released, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Constantine, the emperor who issued the Edict of Milan in 313AD ending the persecution of Christians, convened the Council of Nicea, endowed many churches, and received baptism worthily on his deathbed. 
You might recall that a few weeks ago I was reading Rod Dreher’s timely tome Crunchy Cons. Well, I finished it last week and am on to my next book. But I’m still chewing on Cruncy Cons. I passed the book on to the next reader. So many ideas that Rod sets on the table are core to our Eastern Christian ethos. Concern for the God’s environment is one. In fact, we start preparations for Sunday Divine Liturgy the evening before with Vespers, the evening prayer of our church, with the all-glorious Psalm 103: 
My interest in Eastern Christianity began in High School while on a retreat with my father at a monastery in Kentucky. While there, I read the book “The Way of a Pilgrim”.
One might think that Christian worship begins and ends on Sunday, but that is not the case. All the hours of every day have been made holy, and are proper times to sing praise to God. The Church, following ancient customs going back to Jewish practice, has specific liturgies for the various hours of the day. By praying along with the Church at “morning, noon, and night” as the Psalmist puts it, we can sanctify the whole day and the whole week. Sunday is not the only liturgical day, but the biggest celebration in a constant symphony of praise.
I hate to complain about Relevant Radio—they’ve given a lot of time to our own Fr. Tom Loya to speak on the Theology of the Body, and they’ve plugged his 
Earlier this week, I was perusing my copy of Crisis magazine — a wonderful Catholic monthly — when I spotted a book review for Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lover and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party). 
Christ is risen!
By the Grace of God, I am a Christian, by his mercy I am Catholic, and and by his sense of humor, I am now Byzantine. Many out there reading this may know me, others may not. My name is John Gibson. It seems that God’s plan was for me to move over to the Eastern Rites of His glorious church for in November of Last year I was granted my rite switch. In December (On Christmas, in fact) my 3 youngest kids were charismated. My wife, who also has an aversion to paperwork, remains latin rite, along with my eldest daughter who was confirmed in my old Latin Rite parish who is also discerning if she is going to switch rites or not. My conversion was sudden, to say the least, in October of 1995, and I entered RCIA at that time and was brought into the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church Easter 1996. After my entrance into the Catholic Church, I started studying the Early Church Fathers, and the early Liturgies of St. James and St. John. It was through these documents that I became interested in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church. Finally I was able to participate in a Divine Liturgy, and the rest is history.