Hi,

I am a latin catholic very involved in Lifeteen. I was wondering if maybe the Byzantine Catholic teens would be interested in joining the Lifeteen program but having a Byzantine "identity" (Basically being under Lifeteen but making sure they know you are Byzantine). I think it would be a GREAT way to spread around Eastern Christianity to a lot of latin catholics and it would give more exposure to the Byzantine church in a whole. If you think about it Lifeteen is HUGE! Just a suggestion, tell me what you guys think!

Dear Seeker,

I do not know of this group. Can you tell me more about it?

Elias

Seeker,

Please take no offense at what I am about to say but I think Lifeteen and indeed the whole idea of seperate liturgies for kids, for teens, for college students, for charismatics, for whoever, etc. are wrong in and of themselves and on top of that is completely against the Eastern idea that Liturgy is the gathering of the Church as one body. Ideally in a parish there should be one Liturgy on any given day. Because of work schedules or small buildings some parishes have two but this is starting to change.

The Lifeteen practice of gathering around the altar is completely against Byzantine liturgical practice and to do so would violate our Liturgical law which prohibits any layperson from entering the altar except male altar servers blest to do so. I think it is laudable that you want to expose your group to the Eastern Churhces and involve our youth but I think you will find that Lifeteen and Eastern practice do not mesh. I do think there could and should be coordination and cooperation in social events and service projects but I think we need to maintain our own youth groups because of the above mentioned concerns.

In Christ,
Lance, deacon candidate

Fr. Elias,

The website for Lifeteen is:
http://www.lifeteen.com/

In Christ,
Lance

Dear Lance,

Thanks for the info, and the link!

Elias

Seeker,
As Lance said, Lifeteen just doesn't fit into the Byzantine Catholic tradition. It seems like a great program for the Roman Catholic Church, but it would only hurt the Byzantine Church. The BCC is in a critical point of her history here in America in that we are finally truly coming back from decades of harsh latinization, that we cannot allow ourselves to take on anything that is not ours. In fact when it was rumored that such a program was being formulated for the Byzantine Church, a fire was lit under a couple of ByzanTEENS and they made sure that was not going to happen (don't worry, it was just a rumor). Its not a bad program, its just not right for us.

The best way to get latin teens to know about the East is to take them to a byzantine (or other eastern) service, show them what the "other lung" of the Universal Church is all about. I commend your idea for trying to get the ByzanTEENS identity more recognized, but I do not think that Lifeteen is the way to go. Once the East is understood and appreciated by the West, then perhaps Byzantines can stop being "those weird catholics" (yes, that is what RC friends refer to my religion as). Someday the church will successfully breathe with boht her lungs, once different traditions can be respected and in the case of the Byzantine Church, fully restored.

S'Nami Boh(God is With Us),
Christopher

I agree with Chris 100%

I was a parishioner of St. Tim's in Mesa (the birthplace of Life Teen way back in 1985) for about 3.5 years, and active in Life Teen for 3 of those years. It was through Life Teen that I was introduced to the Catholic Church. I learned a lot. It was on my own research that I discovered the Eastern Catholic Churches. I was received into the Byzantine Catholic Church (Ruthenian Metropolia) on the night of December 26, 2000.

Lemme add a few things to what Chris said:

1)Having experience how Life Teen works firsthand at the place where it is born, and to a certain extent, centered (St. Tim's is a Life Teen hub parish)I have come to realize that Life Teen was never meant to work by itself. It serves essentially as a "grabber" to get (non-Catholic and Catholic teens) interested in the Church and making a decision to live for him. Thus, it is intertwined with the Confirmation and the RCIT programs (RCIT is basically RCIA-Rite of Christian initiation for adults, except with teens). These programs take teens the next step. After which many of these teens after Confirmation (or converstion) and after high school graduation, go on to become CORE members (at least that's how it worked out at St. Tim's) It is not meant to stand alone. This is perhaps the key reason why some of the liturgical craziness has been associated with the program. It can afford to be shallow, it's a holding tank.

2) But since our theology of the Holy Mysteries is fundamentally different (we see Baptism, Chrismation, and Eucharist, in that order, as forming an indissoluable, mystical, Scriptural bond which can not be broken). Since we baptize confirm, and communicate (to use Latin terminology) in one fell swoop we don't need a program, bridge, holding tank, introducer to go between a person and his/her "sacramental graduation day" (which is how Confirmation is often viewed as in the West).

No "Church graduation", no program to get teens "ready" for it, no program to gently lead the teens into that program. Thus, no Life Teen. Although your zeal for East/West Catholic unity (a personal cause of my own) is admirable, I would suggest that you introduce yourself to the "ethos" or personality ("texture" may even be a better word) of Byzantine Christianity by visiting Divine Liturgies often, talking with Byzantine Catholic priests. Heck, you can even by our now completed 3-part catechism (called "Light for Life"). East and West are two entirely different animals. Lemme give you a concrete example:

3) Since we baptize, chrismate, and communicate our babies, we see spiritual growth as uncovering the gifts (indeed, the presence of God Himself) already present within us so that we may turn that flame into a raging fire, but more important than any feeling of ecstasy, joy, speaking in tongues, resting in the Spirit...is Compunction: that awareness (a really central theme in Eastern Christian spirituality) of how much God loves us (causing us to love Him more and more), how little we care for His love (which causes true repentance, which is distinct from self-pity and despair), and also how little we share that love with others (which moves us to perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy).

When we think of an authentic move of the Holy Spirit, the context for us Eastern Christians is always the human person in his/her totality. Hence, speaking (or praying) in tongues, in which it is said that the heart bypasses the head (which immediately raises a red flag for us since it goes against nepsis: inner attention and vigilance over the mind at all times) does not carry with it the sort of bona fides that it does in other circles. The real test for us is if we are allowing the mind to descend into the heart where the Holy Spirit lives, and that is where the true encounter takes place: between the soul and God who is ever present within (precisely because it is assumed that the Eastern Christian has been baptized, Chrismated, and communicated at infancy and has been letting that life of the Holy Spirit grow inside him for all of his natural life).

There's a whole lot more I can say about this. If you want to discuss this further on this forum (or via email), lemme know.

Yours in the Theotokos,

Darrenn

[ 06-03-2002: Message edited by: Darrenn Jackson ]

Hey,

I understand the situation. I absoultely love the Byzantine Divine Liturgy (I just can't stop singing those hymns!). You got my vote to tell every latin catholic I know about the divine liturgy (adults and kids). I already spread it to just about everyone I know at our parish. Everyone WANTS to attend a Divine Liturgy and I am trying to get groups of people going every Sunday that I go. The thing is, I am always busy at my parish, I attend like 3 masses (Sponsor for R.C.I.A dismall mass, Lector for other, and Lifeteen for the other) every Sunday and it's hard to fit the byzantine liturgy in. I have been telling all our seminarians here and hopefully they can spread it around at their parishes as well. Please keep praying for me, the discernment process isn't the easiest thing to go through.

I am a Latin Catholic teen and I would go so far as to say that the Lifteen program is not good for the Roman Catholic Church either. It is one of those crazy things born out of the "Spirit" of Vatican II (makes you wonder if people ever read the Vatican II documents, eh?).

Maybe it attracts some teens, but it doesn't keep with Catholic tradition (East or West). Besides, nothing can beat a traditional Roman rite Mass.

In Jesu et Maria,
Justin

Dear Justin,

How about a traditional Byzantine Catholic Divine Liturgy of our Father among the Saints, John Chrysostomos, Archbishop of the City of Constantine?

Alex

Gregorian,

I agree with you wholeheartedly about the plague of LifeTeen. I'm not sure about anything beating a traditional Roman Mass because I've never been to one.

Alex,

Or even better, have one on the feast day of St. Photios the Great!!

Alex,

Well I have never been to a Divine Liturgy (there are no Eastern Catholic churches in my state), but.....maybe you are right.

In Jesu et Maria,
Justin

Alex,

I'd read that there is a mission someplace in Tennesse. I'll see if I can find out more and post it.

Dan Lauffer

...and remember to invite Dr. Warren Carroll

[ 06-25-2002: Message edited by: NDHoosier ]

My brother goes to a Life Teen Mass every Sunday and its packed! I think its the greatest thing because you see so many people singing and praying.

Now it's not my cup of tea because I am Eastern but whatever brings people closer to the Lord, I think it's great. My brother gets a lot out of it and so do all of his friends.

I think it beats a Latin Tridentine Mass because I went to one and was lost because it was in Latin and it didn't have any action going on like we do in the East or in the regular RC Mass of today. Plus the Life Teen Mass is in English so it appeals to people. Latin is a dead language.

I think more power to Life Teen and to vernacular Masses and Liturgies!

-ukrainiancatholic