Author Archives: Fred Yi

Church Mass Mobs

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We take you to Buffalo, New York where a growing grassroots movement has begun among large—and often empty—urban churches across the country. Old and struggling houses of worship have adopted the popular flash mob idea to encourage larger numbers of people to show up at a specific church and attend Mass on a given Sunday. Using social media to organize participants, the goal of a Mass mob is to fill empty pews and collection plates, inspire parishioners to return to church, and support significant sacred sites and houses of worship that have helped define their cities. But some say Mass mobs are not enough of a long-term solution to the many problems historic old city churches face.

View a gallery of behind-the-scenes photos taken by producer Noelle Serper at Blessed Trinity Roman Catholic Church and St. Casimir Roman Catholic Church in Buffalo, New York.

Rising Christian Persecution; Deaf Church; A Holocaust Survivor Returns to Poland

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Increasing violence against Christians around the world is renewing calls for better religious freedom protection in places like the Middle East and Africa; a congregation of deaf Roman Catholics is fighting the Archdiocese of New York’s plan to close their parish to save money; and the opening of a new museum dedicated to the history of Jews in Poland prompts Holocaust survivor Dasha Rittenberg to revisit the country she grew up in.

Rising Christian Persecution

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In the wake of last week’s deadly attack against Christians at a college in Kenya, we talk with Rev. Thomas Reese, senior analyst at the National Catholic Reporter and a member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, about growing concerns over anti-Christian violence around the world and the need for governments to protect religious communities.

Deaf Church

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To save money, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York wants to close several dozen of its churches, including the Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in New York City known for its 35-year-old ministry to the deaf. But the deaf parishioners are determined to oppose the plan, even appealing to the Pope and arguing that no other church can provide for their needs like St. Elizabeth.

A Holocaust Survivor Returns to Poland

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After centuries of often violent anti-Semitism–since long before, during and after World War II–the government of Poland recently opened a new museum honoring the role of Jews in Polish history. That occasion prompted Dasha Rittenberg of New York, a Holocaust survivor, to go back to Poland to see if and how much it has changed. Filmmaker Menachem Daum follows Rittenberg’s journey to her grandfather’s grave site, the dedication ceremony for the new museum, and her meeting with a Polish Catholic bishop.

Margaret Feinberg on “Defiant Joy”

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As Christians reflected on suffering, mourning, and hope during the days leading up to Easter, we spoke with popular evangelical author and speaker Margaret Feinberg about moving from grief to joy. In her new book “Fight Back with Joy,” she describes her own experience of joy in the face of breast cancer. Click here to read an excerpt.

Author and cancer survivor Margaret Feinberg’s advice on what to do—and not do—for loved ones facing a crisis:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hwzy9qCT_Y&w=800&h=450]

 

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Read an excerpt from “Fight Back with Joy” by Margaret Feinberg:

Wasn’t bereavement the antithesis of joy? Stumbling across the words of Jesus in one of his most famous sermons, I spotted something I’d never noticed.

Unlike Matthew, who describes Jesus ascending a mountain to address the people, Luke places Jesus in the center of the crowd. He steps among the mentally ill, those crippled by infirmity, people barely hanging on to life. Rubbing elbows with those who have diseases and unclean spirits, Jesus tells them to consider themselves blessed:

“You are blessed when the tears flow freely. Joy comes with the morning.”

The Greek word for “blessed is makarios and can be translated “happy” or “fortunate.” Jesus describes the down-and-out as the lucky ones. Such words seem counterintuitive. After all, tears are often seen as a sign of weakness—the crinkly white flag of giving up. Jesus declares that those strong enough to allow the sobs to escape are among the fortunate. The Son of God gives the quivering permission to mourn.

Perhaps we should not be surprised. Many of Israel’s prophets were poets. Their stark words evoked weeping. Those tears provided a pathway to relinquishment. Through mourning, the people released the way things were so they could embrace how things might be. They traded their exasperation for expectation.

A friend of mine talks about grief and the process of mourning as if it’s a river. He points out that there’s more to a river than meets the eye. The river’s current smooths the rough edges of stones and provides an outlet for fish to travel to mating grounds. Biochemical processes degrade and decompose organic waste. The rushing water flushes away debris.

So it is with the river called mourning. If you poke your head beneath the rippled surface. You see deposits being washed away that long needed to be released. Sometimes the river rushes unexpectedly, knocking you off your feet; other times it laps gently around your ankles. And if you pause long enough, you discover small treasures worthy of pocketing.

My friend’s image awakened my to a truth I suspect Jesus knew: Mourning is a river that carries us to joy.

Sometimes we need to give space for grief in order to make room for joy. No one is immune to sorrow, and only those who learn to grieve well can recapture the healing it brings. Just as light needs darkness, so joy needs grief. And just as night preceded morning, so joy comes in the mourning.