Hello!
This is it...my inaugural post.  I am not a professional writer. Over the years, however, I have written a number of articles for our parish bulletin, several lesson plans for our ECF classes, and curricula for a few Eastern rite "VBS" programs which I've held at my home.  What motivates me to write a blog about it?  The answer is simple: my children, and my faith.  I love our rite.  I find it to be the most fulfilling expression of my love for God.  It is what holds me up when I can't stand on my own.  It is what explains the unexplainable and gives meaning to the mundane and the difficult.  The heritage that has been passed down to me over hundreds of generations is full of rich symbols and customs which are there to be explored, yet so very few among us choose to venture there.  Many go through the rituals without understanding or emotion and completely miss the greater lesson...including me at times.  There is so very much I don't know.  However, I do want to learn, not only for my own appreciation of the treasure that is my inheritance as a Byzantine rite Catholic, but more so for my children who will inherit it from me.  If our rite is to withstand the strains of the present age, we can't afford to "hope" the children fall in love with it, we need to do our best to display its beauty and richness to them at every turn.   We need to live a liturgical life, weaving God and the saints into the daily fabric of our domestic churches.  We can celebrate the feasts with crafts and activities, take the opportunity to work the catechism into the dinner table discussion, and most of all let the children see us pray.  If we show them that we believe that God is real, that He hears our prayers and that we depend on His providence, they will carry on and become a spiritually vibrant generation.
In my posts, I hope to share the ways in which my children have celebrated the liturgical year in our home over the past 18 years in the hopes that I can minister to your families and in some small way, contribute to life of our Church.  Welcome!