www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization EWTN - Light of the East

Might I add a few bits for thought?

1. EWTN is a Roman Catholic network. That they air anything Eastern is a plus, and should be looked upon as a gift.

2. People do watch things in the middle of the night, and they certainly do tape them. Whenever they run something I get questions (and not having seen the episode it is sometimes difficult to figure out what was discussed (given the often confused nature of the person asking the question!).

3. Having our own evangelical tools is a plus (that is why this website exists). But the best work can be done at the parish level, and it starts with good Liturgy (that is what attracts people and keeps them).

And also an apporpriate response to JPII's message in Orientale Lumen that it is "... the first need for Catholics is to be familiar with that [ancient tradition of the Eastern Churches], so as to be nourished by it and to encourage the process of unity in the best way possible for each."

I'm happy to hear that you get nibbles from the programming, and that I'm not the only one setting my record function for these middle of the night features :-)


Amen, amen! This holds for east and west. I was at a wonderful lecture last spring by a young Orthodox priest and the one thing I remember from it was "the priest sets the tone of the parish". It so resonated with my experience in my RC parish. I was practically jumping up and down today listening to Archbishop Dolan at his installation as he spoke with such love and support for his priests. How much this is needed!...
And this is a great website!

Hi Jack-
Glory to Jesus Christ!
I wondered if that was you in the previous post :-) I was at the OL conference in San Diego last year, one of the tiny number of Latin Rite Catholics there. It was absolutely wonderful. It really gave my interest in the Eastern churches the boost it needed, including a lovely long chat with Father Maximos in the airport which lead to other good things. I wish I could afford to go to DC this year, maybe next.

May I add another thing about EWTN's Eastern coverage...

At my seminary next door to me and in the two subequent rooms live three of the Franciscan Friars from the network. They are studying for eventual priestly ordination.

We often get to talking about their programming. One thing is the underlying theme: money. They air what people PAY them to show. They were proud that they aired the centennial celebration of Bishop Ortynsky two falls ago - they mentioned the good response they received for doing it. They said that they wished they could do more, but they have no steady monetary resource other than viewers' contributions: "between the gas and electric bill".

Fact: Every day their satellite truck is on the road, it costs tens of thousands of dollars to run it. It may seem easy to say "Well, they should cover the Orientale Lumen Conferences" but who could/would pay for it?

Fact: They listen to what the viewers like and don't like. I asked on of the brothers, one I've known for almost 10 years, "Why don't they do a new rosary so that it's not so '80s" and the response was along the lines of "We tried an update once and the public response was huge - and not for the better!" This is the best - about a year and a half ago they renovated the TV chapel: the pews squeaked and the carpet was wearing. They replaced them with exactly the same carpet and exactly the same style (new) pews because people got upset with change and would thus withold a contribution or two!

Aside from Light of the East, I have seen something from the Eparchy of St. Josaphat - locally produced, I believe, and then submitted.

In short, come up with ideas for Eastern programming, FUNDING, and present it to the Network. The brothers have told me about hot they're always open to fresh ideas especially ones that don't cost alot!

Funding? Well, one of EWTN's least enjoyable features are the fake commercials which they call "breaks". If they must do this (and I realize that Marshall McLuhan would approve) maybe they should run some real commercials for suitable goods and services. There is no shortage of edifying goods and services and worthy causes that almost no one knows about but whose backers might be able to contribute something appropriate to EWTN.

They could also try actually answering the mail, instead of insulting the correspondent with a computer-generated "response" that is unresponsive and says nothing. Showing a lack of interest in one's constituency is unlikely to produce enthusiastic, generous viewers.

Sorry about that.

Fr. Serge

What would people think if I were to approach EWTN about having a regular program to broadcast past Orientale Lumen Conference plenary sessions and liturgical services? If they are open to fresh ideas that don't cost a lot, perhaps they would consider broadcasting some of the many video programs we have in our archives from the last ten years of OL conferences in Washington, San Diego, Detroit and Constantinople. Is there interest out there?

Jack

Great idea. Go for it! Look forward to updates on EWTN response to your proposal.

With the proliferation of digital camera technologies I would also think a rotating cycle of Eastern Catholic services at least on Sundays would be possible. I have spoken informally over the last few years with several Eastern Catholic priests including Ukrainian, Romanian, BCCA, Melkite and Maronite clergy who would be interested in such a thing. As an earlier poster has already observed from personal experience, my letters of proposals or ideas for shows have also not received much other than the generic response.

Diak, who were the priests interested in broadcasting their liturgies? Perhaps I can do a video recording of them, and from a DVD I can make them available on our OLTV website as well as for purchase by people who would like a copy for home use. I already have the equipment and computer software to do it, and have done it many times in at the OL Conferences, in Ukraine, Slovakia and Rome.

It wouldn't be "live", but better than nothing. Send me a PM if you wish to discuss further details about your proposals. I'm open to any new ideas.

Jack

Jack,
Christ is Risen!
St. John's Byzantine Catholic Church in Solon has taped their Divine Liturgy every Sunday with a fixed camera in the back of the church.
That taping is then aired on a local public use TV station during the week.
No zooming, no camera movememt, nothing fancy at all. But the liturgy is broadcast on a regular basis.
They have been doing this for several years now.
Deacon El

Jack - I will contact you off-forum as there are some other things I want to run by you.

I just watched these first two episodes which I'd taped the past two nights- 3am showing out here. Good, simple intro information, especially given that there are a total of 5 Episodes, the next 3 airing 5/4,5,6 6:00am EDT. I noticed that the credits gave 1996 as the date the series was made. The material is timeless so that isn't an issue per se.
http://www.ewtn.com/tv/NAAdv0509.asp

4/30 Ep. 1 A brief history of the Melkite Church which began in Antioch, where St. Paul first preached the good news to the Gentiles. Bishop John Elya explains the Role and Mission of the Melkite Church in America

5/1 Ep 2 Bishop John Elya continues his study of the rich traditions and history of the Melkite Catholic Church in America with a look at Sacramental life in the Melkite Church.

5/4 Ep 3 Bishop John Elya continues his study of the rich traditions and history of the Melkite Catholic Church in America, with a look at the life of St. Basil the Great.

5/5 Ep 4 Bishop John Elya continues his study of the rich traditions and history of the Melkite Catholic Church in America, with a look at the use of iconography in the Melkite Tradition.

5/6 Ep 5 Bishop John Elya continues his study of the rich traditions and history of the Melkite Catholic Church in America, with a look at the spirituality of the Melkite tradition.

Also coming up: VESPERS (90 min)
Pope Benedict XVI will preside at the celebration of Vespers with priests, religious, seminarians and ecclesial movements in the Greek-Melkite cathedral of St. George in Amman.
Sat 5/09/09 10:30 AM ET / 7:30 AM PT LIVE
Sat 5/09/09 6:00 PM ET / 3 PM PT

-Marylouise

As many know, we started Orientale Lumen TeleVision with the following goals in mind:

-- Present the tradition of the Byzantine Churches to our faithful coming from the homelands in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

-- Help the faithful of the Byzantine Churches to be more aware of their tradition, to know it, to deepen it, and preserve it in a pure conscience.

-- Help our brothers and sisters of Latin traditions to have a real, clear and inspiring insight of our Eastern traditions, as belonging to One Church with an Eastern flavor.

-- Share with all citizens of these countries the richness of the Eastern tradition,

-- Help the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church breathe with two lungs, as Saint Irenaeus said and after him, the late Pope John Paul II.

I have done some research into various options, technologies and the costs for taking our existing OLTV programs into some form of broadcast distribution so people can watch them on their TVs in addition to their computers. In order to gather market data for making decisions and planning our future, I have created a web-accessible survey at the following link:

www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5H9iHfJh8r1tgz01FXvZcg_3d_3d [surveymonkey.com]

I would very much appreciate if everyone could complete the survey (it’s only about 7-8 questions) so we can more accurately plan our future for OLTV based on your input. THANKS!

Jack

Jack-
Great hearing you on Father Tom's radio program this week!
http://www.byzantinecatholic.com/feed.xml

I just got my DVDs from last year's OL conference and am loving them!

Next year in Constantinople!
-Marylouise

I was listening to Catholic Radio early this morning when a PSA for vocations came on with a familiar voice. It was Father Michael Sopoliga! It was a fairly long message about his call to the priesthood, by long I mean over a minute, and encouraging others to consider the call. Good to hear a Ruthenian priest among those encouraging vocations in these PSAs, tho no mention was made of his being one.