www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Vespers, Matins & the Divine Liturgy The Revised Divine Liturgy Suggestions for those troubled by inclusive language changes

Here are some thoughts I have for those who are troubled and scandalized by the inclusive language changes to the liturgy used by the Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of Pittsburgh:

1. In expressing your disapproval of the changes, avoid the attribution of particular motives or agenda to your opponents. Such attributions may be correct, but again, they may not. When such attributions are incorrect (even when sincerely believed), they inflame others and can lead to accusations of slander (even if such accusations are exaggerated). Those who support the inclusive changes do not necessarily have a secular feminist agenda, and they do not necessarily hope that introduction of �horizontal� inclusive language will pave the way for ultimately introducing �vertical� inclusive language.

2. Language really does matter. Respectfully point this out to our bishops. You know this to be true. Those who advocate for the changes know that language really does matter. The Church of the Ecumenical Councils knew this to be the case-that is why what some modern critics have derisively referred to as a fight over a diphthong (homoousios vs. homoiousios) truly was an important matter. Certainly our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the Incarnate Word of God, shows us that language and speech matter. The fact that so much controversy exists suggests that dialogue needs to continue. If you are uncertain as how best to go about approaching your bishop, ask your parish priest. If your priest is among those who refuse to discuss the matter, or is entirely unsympathetic to your concerns, perhaps you could privately approach another priest who could offer guidance as how best to approach the bishops about ongoing dialogue on this matter.

3. I think this issue is somehow �bigger� than the four eparchies of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of Pittsburgh. The ongoing Christological controversies between the ancient sees of Alexandria and Antioch had implications beyond those two sees. So the entire Church took up the matters of the Christological controversies of Nestorianism, Eutychianism, and Monothelitism, at the Councils of Ephesus, Chalcedon, Constantinople II, and Constantinople III. These issues arose in the context of the Alexandrian and Antiochene patriarchates, but the Fathers of the Church rightly recognized that the implications of these controversies were universal. Now I�m not suggesting a perfect analogy here, and I�m not suggesting that this issue need result in an Ecumenical Council. However, I do believe that the current liturgical controversy in the BCC has implications beyond the ecclesiastical borders of our particular Church. The entire Church should be concerned, and I would hope that our four bishops would take seriously the opinions of other bishops on these matters. Therefore, correspondence with Rome and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches may be appropriate.

4. Suggest to your parish priests and your fellow parishioners-both those who approve and those who disapprove the changes-that we are in need of better catechesis with regards to a whole host of issues. For example, secular feminism (and a whole host of other secular �isms�) has appealed even to some in the Church because it makes some claims that are true. Of course, a few true claims don�t change the fact that secular feminism is at odds with the Gospel, or to put it a bit differently, a few true claims don't salvage an otherwise flawed system. We need to make quite clear that the Church opposes all abuses of the order God has given to male-female relationships. However, the abuses committed by some men against some women do not validate secular feminism on the whole. We could, and, I think should, have similar conversations about other matters like, say, the economy. In my opinion, the fact that Marxism is an atheistic philosophy does not invalidate all of its criticisms against Capitalism. On the other hand, people like me, in pointing out the problems associated with Capitalism need to take great care not to appear to be endorsing Marxism, or any other system that is so clearly opposed to the Gospel. We are in dire need of such dialogue in the Church. The Gospel is totalizing in the sense that it claims every aspect of our lives. The Church should inform her children of this fact and engage the whole spectrum of life experience in catechesis.

5. Last, but by no meas least, ask that those who disagree with you agree to pray together with you that God's "kingdom come" and that God's "will be done." While we cannot always agree together what exactly constitutes God's will, we should be able to agree to pray together that God's will be done.

Just my thoughts.

Ryan