Your series of learning about other Christian denominations helped me so much and allowed me to see the differences and find the truth that lead me as a protestant, convert to the Catholic faith! Thank you!
Imagine if every church - heck, every place of worship (synagogue, mosque, temple) - did something simple like this. There’s so many people who think they have nothing they can offer, but beautifying the land is something anyone can do.
“He saw there was ground in need of redemption…so he went and modeled right in front of every body’s faces what redemption looks like.” Yes. That. 🙏❤️🙏
@@alanr745 ,.....I have not made any assumptions. This is all deception. It is designed to make you think that because something happened there, it must be of God, and if God is there and did this then he obviously endorses this man and his church/religion. This guy and his religion is 100% outside of the kingdom of God. It is a 100% false manmade religion that gives you the appearance of being of God when it is not, it is all deception.
@@tonybasoni8443you have in fact assumed that it is a deception based on your flawed understanding of the Scriptures. All creation comes from God and as St. Paul points out, when he is leveling accusations against the ungodly, well, I'll let him speak: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.… So nature can bring back or lead people to God if they keep their minds and hearts open to "his still quiet voice." As the good Byzantine Catholic has stated in another video, our Good God created us with five senses and it is with these five senses that Catholics both Eastern and Western AND our separated though fully valid brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Churches worship our Good God. I dare say that your flawed worship is only intellectual therefore you lack the complete experience of worship. Bless your heart.
As a Roman Catholic I've been interested in learning more about the non-Latin Rite Catholic church traditions. Loved this and looking forward to Part 2. Would also love to see a visit to an Ethiopian church, since they have one of the oldest traditions in Christianity, and I really want to learn more about it.
Hey brother, I'm a Syro Malabar Catholic and I'm so happy that more and more Western Roman Catholics are interested in learning about their brothers and sisters and the other Churches. As a Syro Malabar Catholic, I would recommend you to learn about it too and also the Syro Malankara Catholic Church. They both are beautiful and full of culture and Suriyani Nasrani traditions. Currently, just like the whole Latin mass-Novus Ordo thing, since the early 20th century, the translated versions of the traditional mass became popular. So if you want to see a Syro Malabar/Syro Malankara Qurbana/Qurbano, consider listening to the original form, the Suriyani version too.
So glad you finally got to go to an Eastern Rite Catholic Church! Hoping you can make it down to an Ordinariate parish like our cathedral, Our Lady of Walsingham, in Houston, or Our Lady of the Atonement, the first Anglican Use parish, in San Antonio. The Ordinariate is a wonderful instance of reintegrating a beautiful Protestant patrimony- Anglicanism- into the fullness of faith, and our parishes really are as reverent as English liturgy gets. They embody the phrase "living tradition."
@Brian Farley The Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter is an ordinariate of priests and laypeople in North America who were at one point members of the Anglican Communion. They were received into the Catholic Church and retain parts of their traditional Anglican patrimony. They aren't a distinct rite within Catholicism, rather they're a particular usage of the Latin rite, but they don't celebrate mass according to Missale Romanum. They have their own missal called Divine Worship: The Missal. They are fully Catholic however, in communion with Rome and everything.
@Brian Farley They use the same daily readings, but they use the Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition instead of the New American Bible that other churches in America use.
@Brian Farley Feel free to come check out us! Daily Mass every morning at 7, Evening Prayer at 4:30, weekend Masses at 5, 7, 9, 11, and 5. And yes to everything Colonel Flagg said. One additional clarification: I say Our Lady of the Atonement was the first Anglican Use parish, because it joined the Catholic Church as a former Episcopalian congregation a few decades back before there was an Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (there are also ordinariates, aka non-geographical dioceses, for Anglican patrimony Catholics in the British Isles and Australasia). However, nowadays, the proper term is "Ordinariate Use." But that would have been anachronistic when referring to events in the 1980s.
When Christ found me in a protestant holiness camp meeting the Holy Spirit led me on a long journey. My parents were not helpful. They were not Christians and seemed to hate each other. They finally divorced. But through the years from college and seminary I became a United Methodist pastor and remained so for 27 years. In my fifties the Lord led me to another major step of holiness when I left the UMC ministry and walked into the new Temple you just began to view. I can hardly wait to see your inspiration at walking inside the Temple which made me an instant convert. This is home.
Very cool Matt! Father Tom has been a friend of mine for 26+ years. Inside is awesome! Father Tom is such a great artist! He painted all the iconography himself! Can't wait for the next one.
Beautiful video and engagement with my fellow Byzantine Catholic denomination. As a Christian Catholic I've been harassed by a lot of protestant who called me a non-Christian yet they forgot that the church used to be one with many sides in the old days we had the patriarch of Byzantine patriarchical Alexandria patriarch of Rome which is the Pope and so on. The church was one United Catholic Apostolic Church which Catholic in Greek means Universal. I would like you to find the nearest Maronite Catholic Church and make a segment about it. The Maronite Catholic Church it's only one Church that it's in communion with Rome and does not have an orthodox side. The Maronite Catholic Church is been around from the year 400 + when Saint Maroun a monk in Syria started to preach the Bible and started to have following, later on after his death, his student Saint John Maroun continued and founded the Maronite Church. The Maronite are the Christians in Syria and the mountains of Lebanon have suffered tremendously for 1600 years from being occupied by the Romans by the Ottoman Empire by the French and so many others, but the Maronite Church which we still use Aramaic in the liturgy is very deep in history and I hope you make a segment about it.
Beautiful church. Had the pleasure of visiting there awhile back (we were actually planning a tour before COVID hit and then got derailed). Glad you could shed light on the awesome work Fr. Thomas has done there!
I love the enthusiasm and optimism you bring to each video. It inspires dreaming, inquiry, creativity, and possibility. I want to personally thank you for the encouragement you bring to light in the glory of God reflected in the many colors of the Church.
@@MattWhitmanTMBH See how confussion is here in Byzantine Catholic. They are in unuion with Rome but have in there Eucharist Gregory Palamas as a saint. Catholic participate in the Byzantine Catholic Eucharist. But Gregory Palamas calls the latins meaning catholis as satan acting and blindly following him.
It’s beautiful!! Inside and out. Been there. Live 45 minutes away. This priest is an amazing man of God. Did you know Fr Loya is an iconographer? He painted the entire inside. Mind blowing beauty. God dwells there.
You're so cool man. Love your videos. I've learnt alot from them... and how I view Catholics has changed. Even my approach to people in general has changed. Thank you brother.
Out of all the videos like this Father Loya videos are my favorite. I love his humility, his compassion, his art (very talented). It was extremely inspiring. Thank you!
This was one of the most inspiring video I have seen in a very long time,I am a Catholic cradle to grave,but you touch my heart. I guess I should just say I am a Christian. God bless you and this Priest who changed the world.
I often forget to comment because my hands are always busy as I watch. I love this series. It makes me reflect on my own faith practice as well as cultivates understanding, compassion and grace for others. You've been a part of my internet life for years now and I know that's part of your goal so just letting you know, you're knocking it out of the park in Tasmania Australia brother 😉
Love it. Great stuff Matt. My whole understanding of Christ and the Gospel has been revolutionised over the last year or so. It started out with me learning about some history and then becoming interested in learning more about Orthodoxy, which lead me to your channel and I've subsequently learned a lot more about both Catholicism and Orthodoxy through your videos and others. I love what you do because the Orthodox in particular have a much more embodied and enacted form of Christianity than Protestants (who tend to live more in music and theology). Your explorations have a very embodied and enacted reality to them and because of that it makes your experience richer and our viewing richer for it. So thank you for your channel, it's been great.
Love Father Tom and this visit! Also really like what you're saying about finding unity and a lot of us are heading that direction. In the Messianic Jewish space we think that another part of that is healing up some of the original trauma in the split between Christianity and Judaism and it's amazing what you can do when you address those issues head on. It's a tough road but it's definitely healing.
I believe God as called the Church to be partakers in the restoration that God is bringing to the whole of the world. Churches that participate in God's reconciliation and restoration in their place bear witness to God's grace and mercy to their neighbors. It is so good to see God's reconciliation in their place. Thanks Matt for sharing this with us.
this was deeply moving to watch, thank you for sharing! I'm also a protestant Christian, but I'm very much inspired by Catholic and Orthodox tradition. I'm currently writing a book for the Christian German market, basically exactly about what the priest was talking about: how we Christians can cultivate all of life (including social and ecological needs) in light of God's redemption. One of the chapters is about redeeming Creation, and I think I will refer my readers to this video as an example for what that can look like :) Thanks again, and God bless!
I hope you’d get a chance to attend a Traditional Latin Mass and make a video about your experience. 😊 I really enjoy watching your contents here, by the way. God bless. 🙏🏼
The Sacramental worldview is one of, if not the most important treasures that Catholicism has to offer. The Western portion hasn't been too good, ironically, at realizing this to the world or even its members, so it's fantastic to bring in the Byzantines to help us out! A great way to think about it is as analogous to Christ. If he became God and man, then we can become (like) god without losing our humanity. And just as the very matter of our humanity is given this divine destiny in the redemption, so is all matter lifted up. The whole creation was tainted by the fall, and the whole creation is blessed in Christ. The early Christological heresies often tried to protect the godhead from contamination by tainted matter, but... God saw all that he had made, and indeed it was very good.
Fr. Loya is an amazing guy. He's been outspoken about important narrative-challenging matters over the past few years that have caused his own bishop to filter him through a censor, because people are afraid of the truth. His program "Light of the East" is very illuminating as regards Eastern theology. Thanks for reaching out to him!
Matt, there are many requests for you to visit an Anglican Use Catholic Church. Though originally promulgated for Episcopalians to maintain their “added” aesthetics (mostly organic divergence in form, not substance) following Henry VIII’s split with Rome, it has become an attractive home for many various Protestants searching for the Fullness of Truth.. It is an easier transition for high church Protestants, but many are also from Baptist-type traditions as well. Many priests are married, having been priests in other denominations, and Rome has accommodated their remaining in that vocation. To be sure, the role of priest is more encompassing than just pastoring, but former Protestant pastors who are still married and want to become Catholic CAN study for the priesthood and CAN also be ordained. Our Church, Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio, Texas, has had priests who were formerly Methodist, Episcopalian and Baptist. Who knows? Maybe you will be a priest in the Ordinariate someday?!
That was good. It was very poetic, being in between counties, where that fact contributed to the drainage issues. The Church comes in and restores that land. Showing that where our systems of government fail, the church can succeed. Obviously this example is small in scale, but the small is how you meet people where they are.
Matt, I want to THANK you for this series. I am catholic, teacher of Theology and watching your videos help me so much to understand and love the differences and the unity of Christianity. Greetings from Argentina and may Jesus, our Lord bless You abundantly. Keep up the good work!! You really make a difference.
The beauty of the Catholic Church. I was baptized in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and did my other sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church (Latin rite).
Finally! Been living vicariously through you and waiting for this for over a year! I beat you to it tho, got to visit 2 byzantine Catholic churches in Cleveland. If you can, try to go to a Maronite Catholic church as well, super interesting liturgy.
Thanks Matt, another great video. I was one who suggested Annunciation. I'm amazed you were there on the sunny day we had in IL. But bummed that I didn't know you were there. I work less than 5 minutes away and would have liked to hang out. Peace and God Be with you and your ministry.
I love this!! I think one of the things that are broken about the world right now is how people are bombarded by things they cannot change. Unactionable things distract from the actionable, redemptive opportunities and this is inspiring to see people are cutting through the unactionable stuff to get to the stuff that is less in your face.
So absolutely amazing! Tending God's creation as the gardeners we should be, working with and not against. In the process making a theological statement of how as Christian brothers and sisters we should care for all those around us, regardless if they like us or not.
Thanks for another fine video - Fr. Loya is a person of real vision and the restoration of native prairie is wonderful. (Just one drawback - visual - for me is the "lens effect" that distorts the Padre's hands via noticeable enlargement. Other than that, it was beautifully taped and recorded.)
Thank you so much! The reason for the look of the shot is because I am filming the video myself. With there being no camera man, I have to use a very wide lens to make sure he is always in the shot. This creates the effect of the middle of the shot looking natural, but the edges of the shot, especially horizontally, looking exaggerated. I've got a fantastic camera guy who comes with me sometimes, but I love the ease with which conversation happens when I shoot it myself and just talk with whoever is showing me around.
Matt, you may like to lookup Blessed Carlo Acutis. His beatification was in 2020. He is the patron saint of the internet. He died at 15. He was documenting Eucharistic miracles before his death. You can find lots of info online. His parents attended his beatification. Made me cry when they uncovered huge painting of him
I really appreciate your videos, thank you for taking us along and helping us to learn about other traditions. Father Thomas seems like a wonderful ambassador of Christ and also of his church. You as well sir
Have you ever read the book "Crossing the Tiber"? I really enjoyed watching your videos. As a someone who was once in the Protestant church and after studying church history I rediscovered my Catholic Faith. Through the Catholic Church I have come closer in my relationship with Jesus than ever before. I think you would really like this book as beautifully examines the history of Christianity.
I love his approach to the land and his spirituality. Everything in creation carries the Devine DNA is the claim of Richard Rohr in his book, The Universal Christ. Beautiful!
This series is great! I second the recommendations below that you also check out a church in the Anglican Ordinate as well as one of the Traditional Latin parishes run by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) or Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP). The Anglican Ordinate, I think, offers an answer to the question you asked about a roadmap for restored Christian unity, and the TLM parishes will offer your viewers something as interesting/alien (to most of your viewership) as your videos with Orthodox and Eastern Catholic parishes.
This channel helped me recognise God. I just love the 'open' view and discussion. The idea that we are all people (under God), that Christians are just that, Christians. Really appeals to me. We have enough suffering and division as it is. I haven't found a church yet. Most churches only want to baptize people who have proven their intent to join their church. So I haven't been baptized yet either. To be clear I do want to join a Church and be baptized. Tomorrow I'll have the first meeting of an Alpha course. This one being Catholic as it happens. I hope it will help me find my way. The way God intends for me. Mat, Ty so much for your channel. My only ' complaint' is the few uploads lately ^^
That's amazing! I'm so inspired by what they did. This might sound silly but it makes me motivated to want to make my yard nicer too. I'm looking forward to hearing this idea that you're developing Matt!
Your series of learning about other Christian denominations helped me so much and allowed me to see the differences and find the truth that lead me as a protestant, convert to the Catholic faith! Thank you!
Glory to God!
Roman Catholic Church is a cult
Welcome home!
@@sabyfernandes5804 Peace be with you. We Catholics love you.
@Gondola Isekai We should love all of our Christian brothers...and stop the quarreling. God be with you!
Imagine if every church - heck, every place of worship (synagogue, mosque, temple) - did something simple like this. There’s so many people who think they have nothing they can offer, but beautifying the land is something anyone can do.
“He saw there was ground in need of redemption…so he went and modeled right in front of every body’s faces what redemption looks like.” Yes. That. 🙏❤️🙏
LE,....No, this is what deception looks like.
@@tonybasoni8443 on what do you base your assumption?
@@alanr745 ,.....I have not made any assumptions. This is all deception. It is designed to make you think that because something happened there, it must be of God, and if God is there and did this then he obviously endorses this man and his church/religion.
This guy and his religion is 100% outside of the kingdom of God. It is a 100% false manmade religion that gives you the appearance of being of God when it is not, it is all deception.
@@tonybasoni8443you have in fact assumed that it is a deception based on your flawed understanding of the Scriptures. All creation comes from God and as St. Paul points out, when he is leveling accusations against the ungodly, well, I'll let him speak:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.…
So nature can bring back or lead people to God if they keep their minds and hearts open to "his still quiet voice." As the good Byzantine Catholic has stated in another video, our Good God created us with five senses and it is with these five senses that Catholics both Eastern and Western AND our separated though fully valid brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Churches worship our Good God. I dare say that your flawed worship is only intellectual therefore you lack the complete experience of worship. Bless your heart.
I think it was Saint Francis of Assisi who said , "preach the gospel at all times, sometimes use words"
As a Roman Catholic I've been interested in learning more about the non-Latin Rite Catholic church traditions. Loved this and looking forward to Part 2.
Would also love to see a visit to an Ethiopian church, since they have one of the oldest traditions in Christianity, and I really want to learn more about it.
ALL Catholics are allowed to attend and receive the Eucharist at any and all Catholic Rites
The Indian Catholic tradition also dates back to the time of the apostle Thomas.
Hey brother, I'm a Syro Malabar Catholic and I'm so happy that more and more Western Roman Catholics are interested in learning about their brothers and sisters and the other Churches.
As a Syro Malabar Catholic, I would recommend you to learn about it too and also the Syro Malankara Catholic Church.
They both are beautiful and full of culture and Suriyani Nasrani traditions.
Currently, just like the whole Latin mass-Novus Ordo thing, since the early 20th century, the translated versions of the traditional mass became popular.
So if you want to see a Syro Malabar/Syro Malankara Qurbana/Qurbano, consider listening to the original form, the Suriyani version too.
If you attend a Byzantine Catholic Church, be prepared for slightly longer services and a 60-90 minute coffee hour afterwards.
“What if they don't believe in God? Do they still have access?“
“Oh yes! they especially have access.”
Good answer. Wonderful interview.
So glad you finally got to go to an Eastern Rite Catholic Church! Hoping you can make it down to an Ordinariate parish like our cathedral, Our Lady of Walsingham, in Houston, or Our Lady of the Atonement, the first Anglican Use parish, in San Antonio. The Ordinariate is a wonderful instance of reintegrating a beautiful Protestant patrimony- Anglicanism- into the fullness of faith, and our parishes really are as reverent as English liturgy gets. They embody the phrase "living tradition."
@Brian Farley The Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter is an ordinariate of priests and laypeople in North America who were at one point members of the Anglican Communion. They were received into the Catholic Church and retain parts of their traditional Anglican patrimony. They aren't a distinct rite within Catholicism, rather they're a particular usage of the Latin rite, but they don't celebrate mass according to Missale Romanum. They have their own missal called Divine Worship: The Missal. They are fully Catholic however, in communion with Rome and everything.
@Brian Farley They use the same daily readings, but they use the Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition instead of the New American Bible that other churches in America use.
@Brian Farley Feel free to come check out us! Daily Mass every morning at 7, Evening Prayer at 4:30, weekend Masses at 5, 7, 9, 11, and 5.
And yes to everything Colonel Flagg said. One additional clarification: I say Our Lady of the Atonement was the first Anglican Use parish, because it joined the Catholic Church as a former Episcopalian congregation a few decades back before there was an Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (there are also ordinariates, aka non-geographical dioceses, for Anglican patrimony Catholics in the British Isles and Australasia). However, nowadays, the proper term is "Ordinariate Use." But that would have been anachronistic when referring to events in the 1980s.
I’m a member of St. Cuthbert of Lindesfarne in Indianapolis! Love the Ordinariate!
@@mattnelson9477 I’ve been going to Mount Calvary in Baltimore. The liturgy is so beautiful and the church is full of young families.
That garden is a wonderful idea.
When Christ found me in a protestant holiness camp meeting the Holy Spirit led me on a long journey. My parents were not helpful. They were not Christians and seemed to hate each other. They finally divorced. But through the years from college and seminary I became a United Methodist pastor and remained so for 27 years. In my fifties the Lord led me to another major step of holiness when I left the UMC ministry and walked into the new Temple you just began to view. I can hardly wait to see your inspiration at walking inside the Temple which made me an instant convert. This is home.
Very cool Matt! Father Tom has been a friend of mine for 26+ years. Inside is awesome! Father Tom is such a great artist! He painted all the iconography himself! Can't wait for the next one.
I wish every parish could have a priest this loving, truthful and beautiful.
Jeff I live down the street in lockport. I'm orthodox but respect Father Tom's vision in the Byzantine traditions.
This is my Church I go to!! It’s beautiful!!!! ❤
Beautiful church and grounds, and a very warm and personable parish priest.
Matt you are awesome 👏
You should do a tour of St. John Cantius Catholic Church in Chicago like Gospel Simplicity did.
Matt I am enjoying your Faith journey. I am a Trad. Roman Catholic and also attend the Byzantine Catholic Church. The liturgy feeds my soul.
Can't wait to see inside! I'm Roman Catholic. Thank u brother in Christ! Love all your content 🙏
Catholics can attend and receive communion in ALL Catholic Rites.Visit an Eastern Catholic parish sometime
Father Tom is an awesome dude. He encouraged me in his vlog to start getting back to the confession box and do contrition.
Beautiful video and engagement with my fellow Byzantine Catholic denomination. As a Christian Catholic I've been harassed by a lot of protestant who called me a non-Christian yet they forgot that the church used to be one with many sides in the old days we had the patriarch of Byzantine patriarchical Alexandria patriarch of Rome which is the Pope and so on. The church was one United Catholic Apostolic Church which Catholic in Greek means Universal. I would like you to find the nearest Maronite Catholic Church and make a segment about it. The Maronite Catholic Church it's only one Church that it's in communion with Rome and does not have an orthodox side. The Maronite Catholic Church is been around from the year 400 + when Saint Maroun a monk in Syria started to preach the Bible and started to have following, later on after his death, his student Saint John Maroun continued and founded the Maronite Church. The Maronite are the Christians in Syria and the mountains of Lebanon have suffered tremendously for 1600 years from being occupied by the Romans by the Ottoman Empire by the French and so many others, but the Maronite Church which we still use Aramaic in the liturgy is very deep in history and I hope you make a segment about it.
Beautiful church. Had the pleasure of visiting there awhile back (we were actually planning a tour before COVID hit and then got derailed). Glad you could shed light on the awesome work Fr. Thomas has done there!
Gospel Simplicity is here! You have awesome videos too!
Potential crossover?
Looking forward to the next episode to see the interior of the church and to understand more on the byzantine rite Catholic.
I love the enthusiasm and optimism you bring to each video. It inspires dreaming, inquiry, creativity, and possibility. I want to personally thank you for the encouragement you bring to light in the glory of God reflected in the many colors of the Church.
Thank you Sean. It means a lot.
@@MattWhitmanTMBH See how confussion is here in Byzantine Catholic. They are in unuion with Rome but have in there Eucharist Gregory Palamas as a saint. Catholic participate in the Byzantine Catholic Eucharist. But Gregory Palamas calls the latins meaning catholis as satan acting and blindly following him.
SM,....The church has one color, white. The many colors you refer to are all the colors of all the fake manmade churches.
@@tonybasoni8443 bless your heart
@@rraddena ,....Your continual statement of "bless your heart" is only exposing how absolutely blind, lost, and deceived you are.
It’s beautiful!! Inside and out. Been there. Live 45 minutes away. This priest is an amazing man of God. Did you know Fr Loya is an iconographer? He painted the entire inside. Mind blowing beauty. God dwells there.
Wow I can’t wait for this next one! I go to a Byzantine Catholic Church here in California
I go to St. Thomas the Apostle Byzantine Catholic Church in Gilbert,Arizona
Orthodox in tradition, Catholic in communion. That's all we really are.
You're so cool man. Love your videos. I've learnt alot from them... and how I view Catholics has changed. Even my approach to people in general has changed. Thank you brother.
That's amazing! So happy Catholicism is being represented! I love my Catholic faith 🤗❤
Out of all the videos like this Father Loya videos are my favorite. I love his humility, his compassion, his art (very talented). It was extremely inspiring. Thank you!
I'm pleased you are doing these videos. I've learned a lot. Been a believer for decades and have never heard of Eastern Rite Catholic Church.
This is the best video series on TH-cam. Keep it up.
Thank you.
I believe the Lord is using Father Loya effectively. God bless his humble priest.
This was one of the most inspiring video I have seen in a very long time,I am a Catholic cradle to grave,but you touch my heart. I guess I should just say I am a Christian. God bless you and this Priest who changed the world.
The Catholic Faith is the true, universal Christian Faith! ❤️ don’t feel ashamed to call yourself Catholic, God bless you :)
I often forget to comment because my hands are always busy as I watch. I love this series. It makes me reflect on my own faith practice as well as cultivates understanding, compassion and grace for others. You've been a part of my internet life for years now and I know that's part of your goal so just letting you know, you're knocking it out of the park in Tasmania Australia brother 😉
Thanks TasJess!
Love it. Great stuff Matt.
My whole understanding of Christ and the Gospel has been revolutionised over the last year or so. It started out with me learning about some history and then becoming interested in learning more about Orthodoxy, which lead me to your channel and I've subsequently learned a lot more about both Catholicism and Orthodoxy through your videos and others.
I love what you do because the Orthodox in particular have a much more embodied and enacted form of Christianity than Protestants (who tend to live more in music and theology). Your explorations have a very embodied and enacted reality to them and because of that it makes your experience richer and our viewing richer for it.
So thank you for your channel, it's been great.
Love Father Tom and this visit!
Also really like what you're saying about finding unity and a lot of us are heading that direction. In the Messianic Jewish space we think that another part of that is healing up some of the original trauma in the split between Christianity and Judaism and it's amazing what you can do when you address those issues head on. It's a tough road but it's definitely healing.
I believe God as called the Church to be partakers in the restoration that God is bringing to the whole of the world. Churches that participate in God's reconciliation and restoration in their place bear witness to God's grace and mercy to their neighbors. It is so good to see God's reconciliation in their place. Thanks Matt for sharing this with us.
I love this story of redeeming the land. Beautiful!
this was deeply moving to watch, thank you for sharing! I'm also a protestant Christian, but I'm very much inspired by Catholic and Orthodox tradition. I'm currently writing a book for the Christian German market, basically exactly about what the priest was talking about: how we Christians can cultivate all of life (including social and ecological needs) in light of God's redemption. One of the chapters is about redeeming Creation, and I think I will refer my readers to this video as an example for what that can look like :) Thanks again, and God bless!
Hello Nicole
Same here! I'm a protestant but really intrigued by the orthodox and catholic church
I hope you’d get a chance to attend a Traditional Latin Mass and make a video about your experience. 😊 I really enjoy watching your contents here, by the way. God bless. 🙏🏼
The Sacramental worldview is one of, if not the most important treasures that Catholicism has to offer. The Western portion hasn't been too good, ironically, at realizing this to the world or even its members, so it's fantastic to bring in the Byzantines to help us out!
A great way to think about it is as analogous to Christ. If he became God and man, then we can become (like) god without losing our humanity. And just as the very matter of our humanity is given this divine destiny in the redemption, so is all matter lifted up. The whole creation was tainted by the fall, and the whole creation is blessed in Christ. The early Christological heresies often tried to protect the godhead from contamination by tainted matter, but... God saw all that he had made, and indeed it was very good.
Fr. Loya is an amazing guy. He's been outspoken about important narrative-challenging matters over the past few years that have caused his own bishop to filter him through a censor, because people are afraid of the truth. His program "Light of the East" is very illuminating as regards Eastern theology. Thanks for reaching out to him!
Matt, there are many requests for you to visit an Anglican Use Catholic Church. Though originally promulgated for Episcopalians to maintain their “added” aesthetics (mostly organic divergence in form, not substance) following Henry VIII’s split with Rome, it has become an attractive home for many various Protestants searching for the Fullness of Truth.. It is an easier transition for high church Protestants, but many are also from Baptist-type traditions as well. Many priests are married, having been priests in other denominations, and Rome has accommodated their remaining in that vocation. To be sure, the role of priest is more encompassing than just pastoring, but former Protestant pastors who are still married and want to become Catholic CAN study for the priesthood and CAN also be ordained. Our Church, Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio, Texas, has had priests who were formerly Methodist, Episcopalian and Baptist. Who knows? Maybe you will be a priest in the Ordinariate someday?!
That was good. It was very poetic, being in between counties, where that fact contributed to the drainage issues. The Church comes in and restores that land. Showing that where our systems of government fail, the church can succeed. Obviously this example is small in scale, but the small is how you meet people where they are.
Fathers Toms Facebook channel is so funny and insightful and beautiful. so happily surprised to see you two together!
Matt, I want to THANK you for this series. I am catholic, teacher of Theology and watching your videos help me so much to understand and love the differences and the unity of Christianity. Greetings from Argentina and may Jesus, our Lord bless You abundantly. Keep up the good work!! You really make a difference.
You can tell this experience totally changed him I’m super excited to see what God has for him
Fr. Loya is awesome!
Thank you for being a uniter, brother. God bless you. And God bless Father Thomas and his parish family. Amen.
Thanks Matt, blessed epiphanytide to you.
how wonderful. God bless this priest
The beauty of the Catholic Church. I was baptized in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and did my other sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church (Latin rite).
This was cool. Looking forward to the next video
Finally! Been living vicariously through you and waiting for this for over a year! I beat you to it tho, got to visit 2 byzantine Catholic churches in Cleveland. If you can, try to go to a Maronite Catholic church as well, super interesting liturgy.
Thanks for doing this video it’s awesome
I live about 5 miles from the grounds. It's absolutely beautiful. I go out of my way at times to drive by.
That is a beautiful garden!
Love this series. I believe this is the sort of parish Matt Fradd attends.
Awesome! Inspirational! One of your best. Thank you.
Thanks Matt, another great video. I was one who suggested Annunciation. I'm amazed you were there on the sunny day we had in IL. But bummed that I didn't know you were there. I work less than 5 minutes away and would have liked to hang out. Peace and God Be with you and your ministry.
I love this!! I think one of the things that are broken about the world right now is how people are bombarded by things they cannot change. Unactionable things distract from the actionable, redemptive opportunities and this is inspiring to see people are cutting through the unactionable stuff to get to the stuff that is less in your face.
I'm really grateful for you doing this.
It helped me understand other denominations so much better. Thank you for that!
God bless you! 🙏❤️
So absolutely amazing! Tending God's creation as the gardeners we should be, working with and not against. In the process making a theological statement of how as Christian brothers and sisters we should care for all those around us, regardless if they like us or not.
Looking forward to part 2. God bless your ecumenical trips and conversations, Matt.
Thanks for another fine video - Fr. Loya is a person of real vision and the restoration of native prairie is wonderful.
(Just one drawback - visual - for me is the "lens effect" that distorts the Padre's hands via noticeable enlargement. Other than that, it was beautifully taped and recorded.)
Thank you so much! The reason for the look of the shot is because I am filming the video myself. With there being no camera man, I have to use a very wide lens to make sure he is always in the shot. This creates the effect of the middle of the shot looking natural, but the edges of the shot, especially horizontally, looking exaggerated. I've got a fantastic camera guy who comes with me sometimes, but I love the ease with which conversation happens when I shoot it myself and just talk with whoever is showing me around.
@@MattWhitmanTMBH I hope your camera man know that the viewers appreciate him 🙂 You have spoiled us with how good the show looks.
Matt, you may like to lookup Blessed Carlo Acutis. His beatification was in 2020. He is the patron saint of the internet. He died at 15. He was documenting Eucharistic miracles before his death. You can find lots of info online. His parents attended his beatification. Made me cry when they uncovered huge painting of him
This was very interesting and informative! Thank you for allowing us to experience this through your visual arts!
Grateful you upload videos like this, please continue
Man, I kinda want to see you do a video on Maronite Catholics or Assyrian Church of the East. Middle Eastern churches need more love lol.
So hungry for more!
Great video, Matt. Praying for you, my brother!!!
Nice camera work, keeping the sun out of the lens and giving the priest a halo in the proces. I like how that worked out ☦️🙏🏻
Love these videos, Matt! I can’t wait for the next one.
Heck yeah I was so hoping you’d make a video with Byzantine Catholics!
This was really cool interviewing this guy
Ukrainian Greek Catholic here! 👋🏼
The Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia is quite beautiful (and enormous).
Wow what a great topic! Looking forward to part 2 😊
Amazing! I'd love to see you back on Pints with Aquinas having a conversation about this visit.
This is everything. Thank you for finding it.
I really appreciate your videos, thank you for taking us along and helping us to learn about other traditions. Father Thomas seems like a wonderful ambassador of Christ and also of his church. You as well sir
Have you ever read the book "Crossing the Tiber"?
I really enjoyed watching your videos. As a someone who was once in the Protestant church and after studying church history I rediscovered my Catholic Faith. Through the Catholic Church I have come closer in my relationship with Jesus than ever before. I think you would really like this book as beautifully examines the history of Christianity.
I love that the video went where it did and not where you thought it would, and I love your excitement about that. I can't wait for part 2.
Love the church visit videos! Looking forward to where you take us this year.
Amen. Redemption in action
I love his approach to the land and his spirituality. Everything in creation carries the Devine DNA is the claim of Richard Rohr in his book, The Universal Christ. Beautiful!
Loving that beautiful bird at 7:55
Redemption on display through nature. Wonderful!
Love the fathers sleeves
I am having a crisis of faith and I would like to ask for prayers
The Lord be with you dear. Praying.
Just prayed for you Brother. Much love 🙏
Matt..also in Homer Glen, is an Orthodox church with an icon painting of John the Baptist that leaks oil. The oil smells like myrrh.
Father Tom is amazing. Franchise player! I really hope somehow how I make it that way to shake his hand one day. Good stuff
Bless you!!
fascinating... Thanks Matt, looking forward to part two!
A beautiful, moving video.
So beautiful and inspiring! I love seeing this! ❤️❤️❤️🙏🏼✝️🕊
Very nice video. What a beautiful transformation to glorify God’s work
Thanks Matt
This series is great! I second the recommendations below that you also check out a church in the Anglican Ordinate as well as one of the Traditional Latin parishes run by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) or Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP).
The Anglican Ordinate, I think, offers an answer to the question you asked about a roadmap for restored Christian unity, and the TLM parishes will offer your viewers something as interesting/alien (to most of your viewership) as your videos with Orthodox and Eastern Catholic parishes.
Fr. Loya is a pillar of civilization!
Very inspirational. Thanks for sharing this :-)
Confident and bold never apologize for Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. He alone saves our souls.
This channel helped me recognise God. I just love the 'open' view and discussion. The idea that we are all people (under God), that Christians are just that, Christians. Really appeals to me. We have enough suffering and division as it is.
I haven't found a church yet. Most churches only want to baptize people who have proven their intent to join their church. So I haven't been baptized yet either.
To be clear I do want to join a Church and be baptized.
Tomorrow I'll have the first meeting of an Alpha course. This one being Catholic as it happens. I hope it will help me find my way. The way God intends for me.
Mat, Ty so much for your channel. My only ' complaint' is the few uploads lately ^^
I've helped run an Alpha course and you'll love it!
Best wishes! 🙏✝️
@@saraanic9436 ty
That's amazing! I'm so inspired by what they did. This might sound silly but it makes me motivated to want to make my yard nicer too. I'm looking forward to hearing this idea that you're developing Matt!
Hello Jessica
Thanks for this, but I'm still waiting for the fly fishing video.