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Dec 29th, 2019
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Joined: May 2010
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You know I would think the same thing. There are over 1.5 million people in this area so there should be a few hundred Byzantine Catholics around. There is a large Maronite parish here that is very active. Also a small Syro-Malabar mission.
At this point it is not clear which if any Byzantine Rite Church would be willing to plant a mission in San Antonio. The Ruthenian Church did have a mission here a number of years ago supported by the parish in Houston. However, that mission was closed, apparently by the Church administration (see above). They now have a mission in Austin, supported by both Dallas and Houston parishes, so they are probably pretty well stretched now.
There is a Ukrainian mission in The Colony near Dallas which may be affiliated with parish in Houston. At this point I am just gathering information and passing it on. As I said on the blog, I am Roman Catholic so I really don't know much about what I am doing here. I would be happy to hear from anyone who is interested in helping start a mission from any Byzantine Catholic jurisdiction in San Antonio. Thanks for the feedback.
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Joined: May 2002
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Nancy, At St. John Chrysostom in Houston and St. Basil in Irving, we are in the process of connecting with out-lying Byzantines as an extension of the parish. We have a number of Byzantine families in San Antonio who are connected to St. John's and we try to keep them integrated through the website ( www.stjohnchrysostom.com [ stjohnchrysostom.com] ) and occasionally through liturgies in their area. If the parish in Houston is unaware of your existance, nothing will really be done in your area (or when it happens you will not be informed). I urge you to contact the parish and get onto their mailing list....check their bulletin on the website, etc. I often travel to different parts of the state to offer services to byzantines wherever they might be. This is an important part of our parish outreach. You can also contact me personally at: houstonelias@gmail.com fr. Elias Rafaj Houston
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Joined: May 2010
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I had a chance to attend the Divine Liturgy at St. John Chrysostom in Houston this morning. It was a very beautiful liturgy and Fr. Elias gave a very fine homily. I was told today that a biritual priest who is Melkite has recently relocated to San Antonio. If any additional information is available I would appreciate receiving it. Thanks.
Jim
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Joined: May 2010
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I am gathering information on interest in Byzantine Catholic services in San Antonio, TX. If anyone is interested in meeting regularly in San Antonio please contact me either through a PM or at accdoc2000@yahoo.com. I will get back to you. Jim
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Joined: Oct 2003
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At Jim's request, I have just added San Antonio to the Byzantine Catholic Mission/Start-A-Parish page on this site, where we post info on fledgling missions and contact info for those hoping to locate enough interested persons to begin regular service of the Divine Liturgy. Anyone interested in having the Divine Liturgy served regularly in San Antonio, please contact Jim using the phone number or e-mail addy listed there or PM him (JimG) here. That San Antonio should have a mission and, eventually, a parish is a hope dear to my own heart. I spent a year (1968-69) in San Antonio and was sad indeed to find no Melkite or other Byzantine parish there. To this day, I remember fondly Father Vladimir Akeekee, of blessed memory, and the good people of St George's Maronite Church, who welcomed a young Irish Melkite Army officer into their parish life for that year. Many years, Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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Joined: May 2010
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Neil
Thanks. Hopefully you will be able to come back to our lovely city soon and we will have a Byzantine liturgy for you to attend. St. George's has certainly grown and thrived since you were here and has a fine facility. Over the years the good people there have been very generous in their welcoming of Eastern Catholics of all stripes.
Thanks again for the help.
Jim
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Joined: Apr 2009
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I am a retired Melkite Catholic priest. Austin sounds nice, lets start a Melkite mission. chaplainrod@aol.com
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Joined: May 2010
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Chaplain Rod
Austin is a little far. They have a small Byzantine mission there. We had our first Divine Liturgy today served by Fr. Ramon Gonzalez who is a biritual Dominican priest originally from San Antonio. His faculties are Byzantine. We had a Ukrainian, several Byzantines, some Romans and one or two unidentified. 25 in all for a good start. You are welcome to come and join us. The weather is nice, the food is fantastic and I am sure Fr. Ramon can use the help.
Jim
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Austin has me on hold. Tell me more about San Antonio and JimG.
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Rod
I would be happy to but I can't PM you right now because you are still too new on this forum. PM me your email address and I will get back to you.
Jim
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Joined: Oct 2003
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Bless Abouna John,
Welcome to the Forum.
Many years,
Neil
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
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