I came across this on Father James Martin's facebook page. As you can imagine, he too got the vapors over the appeal of the Traditional Latin Mass. Here is the article: "In Came Latin, Incense And Burned Books, Out Went Half The Parishioners". It's not more than a glorified hissy-fit, and it's an admission of their own failures as much as the appeal of authentic Catholicism.
One Mad Mom did her own excellent critique of the NCR's hysteria, and I suggest that you read it. I will supplement it with a few of my own observations.
First, my own attendance at the Traditional Latin Mass had been slowly increasing in frequency before the pandemic. When the mainstream bishops cowered before the magistrates during the onset of "restrictions", the Traditional Latin Mass literally became the only game in town, as it were. Only those Masses was I able to attend, if only in my car, and receive actual Holy Communion. For the first 8 weeks, I drove 2.5 hours each way to attend Mass. Of course Holy Mass is worth it. By God's grace I have not had to settle for spiritual Communion once on account of the pandemic and nonsensical "regulations".
The NCR piece starts by quoting Maria Lichtmann, a "religious scholar". I googled her and discovered that she has a bit of a resume, peppered with all sorts of nods to her own dissidence. What would an academic career be without a stint at Georgetown University? On page 2 we see that there she taught a course called "The Problem of God". On the same page we see her affiliation with the dissident bunch Pax Christi. On page 5 we see that she authored a paper entitled "My Search For The Goddess" and on page 6, "Saint Paul Reexamined: The Case For Women Priests". So of course this woman would find the presence of authentic Catholicism to be "strange" and perhaps even threatening to her shaky beliefs.
The parishioners who abhor tradition are conducting Mass in an auto body shop. Like One Mad Mom, I hope the bishop clamps down on that. Anyway, the article quotes Father John Hoover, one of the two priests who says Mass in this setting, probably illicitly. He states that after the homily, he invites parishioners to talk of their spiritual struggles. Not after Mass, but after the homily, as in "before the Creed" and "during Mass"? These shenanigans are prime examples of why these parishioners don't value the Real Presence nor Our Lord's One True Church.
I could go on and on. Suffice it to say that both Father Martin and the Not-At-All Catholic Reporter have given to the One True Church an unintentional salute, acknowledging that their efforts to dismantle and desconstruct the One True Church are being successfully opposed.
I have encouraged Novus Ordo-ites for years to find a Latin Rite Mass and start attending. The Catholic Church has left Catholicism, and I know this will be very obvious to all at some point, perhaps when child or virgin sacrifice happens on the altar, but until then the pot will boil and Catholics will still show up for Novus Ordo Shenanigans. I know of faithful NO priests, it's not that, but there are too many influences from up above that filter down, and at this point it's really just a hot mess. By the time you have a pope venerating a demon goddess in the Vatican garden, photos of women suckling beasts, and so on, you're far gone. The frogs in the pot don't know what's going on or, they are complicit. But I bet there are many NO Catholics who simply don't understand the TLM is for THEM, and this is their spiritual heritage.
ReplyDeleteIs it an easy transition? Maybe, maybe not. People get thrown by the Latin, but the Latin is accessible, and the format of the Holy Mass is basically the same. You get a Missal with Latin on one page and English on the other and voila, you'll get it.
Nobody notices if you don't, because most of the Mass is not spoken and they aren't paying attention to you anyway. Heck you don't even say "Amen" when you receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, your contribution is not verbal. You are there to witness and participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which the PRIEST says on your behalf. No songs, no blather, no hand shaking, just you and the priest and God. It's fairly quiet and peaceful.
Perhaps some don't like that it is longer than the NO Mass. Maybe we've become so detached from the reality we'd just as soon have a 25 minute express Mass. This was a joke at our local church, how Fr. "Speedy" made sure the Mass did not last longer than a half hour, and that Mass drew a lot of people. Depends what you want, to go through the motions quickly so you can get home and watch the game, or spend an hour or more in the timeless worship of God, filled with beauty and meaning, and without the political blather. For us the choice was easy and with our culture and world in such trouble, I can't imagine there are not many more Catholics trying to find their way home. To them I say GO to your local Latin Rite Mass. Look up "Traditional Latin Rite Mass" on your browser, find whatever is in your area, and go. Try a few until you find the one that fits. Some are sung, some are spoken, some have music, some have none, but all are the proper worship of God as God intended, and it has been preserved for YOU.
There are those of us that WANT reverence, and tradition (small “t” version). Who want a Mass celebrated as it is supposed to be, according to the Rubics, not a “theater” performance. The problem is that you can have several pastors in a row that will do this. The parish population supports it and you have others commune from their local (and sterile) parishes. And then, boom! In comes a “modernist” complete with all the “Church of Nice” notions. Once again they want to wreck-novate to a sterile and godless “multipurpose room” with minimalist touches and dancers with a live band.
ReplyDeleteSo many men with TRUE vocations to the priesthood were DENIED because of the “unfaithful” and homosexual cabal that has infiltrated and taken over so many seminaries. The extent of this abuse of will never be fully comprehended in this life.