Glory to Jesus Christ!
The Young Adults of the Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh are excited to announce a new Byzantine Book club to be held virtually and we want to hear from you!
Our first step is gauging interest and fine tuning some basics. Our hope is to meet online, probably by Zoom, once per month, probably the last Monday of the month from 7:30 – 8:30, for reading and discussion focusing on the intersections of Eastern theology, this modern world we live in, our ancient faith, and being a young adult in the greater church. This group is sponsored by Pittsburgh Byzantine Catholic Young Adults, which if that describes you, here is a Facebook group to join. https://www.facebook.com/groups/669368746784321/ and also sponsored by the Sisters of St. Basil the Great, Uniontown PA. Incidentally here is another Facebook page you may wish to follow. https://www.facebook.com/sistersofstbasil.uniontown
The first book we have chosen, at Sr. Barbara Jean’s fantastic suggestion, is St. Basil the Great’s commentary on Social Justice. “On Social Justice: St. Basil the Great.” This is available from the St. Vladimir Press Bookstore at https://svspress.com/ , I’ve also seen it on Amazon. The first essay we will be looking at is available online at http://stjohngoc.org/st-basil-the-greats-sermon-to-the-rich/. Please begin to read this essay to prepare for the first evening, August 31, 7:30 pm EDT.
I’m constantly surprised, and amazed how the church fathers speak so effortlessly through the centuries bringing the wisdom so topical and so needed to the discourse of today. This deep and thought provoking book challenges us to live our faith, even and especially in challenging times. In this time of Covid19 as we have all gotten tragically familiar with online video conferences and feel even more keenly our need for the fellowship of our community of believers, it is my hope that this community study into St. Basil’s wisdom can help inform, challenge, and strengthen our faith and to grow in wisdom, courage and charity as we respond to Christ’s call to us toward theosis.
So if diving into a book of Patristic theology with a community of young Byzantines sounds as appealing to you as it does to us (or you are just happy to find a social gathering that is free of charge and are any age at all, but feel you could be enriched by attending) please email your interest so we can start to gather hard numbers for planning going forward. Likewise if you are interested and have feedback about a good platform, day/time to meet, or have strong opinions if we should keep our working group title of “The Steel City Byzantines Book Club” or change it to “The Church Fathers’ are still Speaking”, or any other questions please direct them to Sam Tima, who has graciously volunteered to watch the email account at samst267@gmail.com. As people register we will send out information to connect to the video chat. Hope to see you there! Father Will Rupp and Sister Barbara Jean, OSBM will participate in the sessions.
Send your registration notice or questions to Sam Tima at samst267@gmail.com for the opening session, August 31, 7:30 pm EDT.
Come! Invite a friend and come!