This isn't some fringe concept, this is straight-forward common sense. It makes practical as well as theological sense. Why cant priests realize that? Look, I am not talking about the occasional verbal stumble or the every-once-in-a-while addition of some prayer or thoughts when moved by the spirit (yes, I am trying to be as charitable and progressive as possible) I am talking about repetitive and systematic ad-lib or change in the words or actions of the Mass. I don't want to turn this post into a rant, or a lecture on what the Mass is, but I think we should ALWAYS pause and pray prior to Mass and reflect on what the Mass is and what it isn't.
As a blogger with a rather small following I don't get as many stories as some folks do about problems around the Church. Yet, I do receive a decent amount. A common theme is from parents who are appalled at the state of their Parishes' Catechesis. They talk about dissent, incorrect teachings, and a general "liberalization" of the Faith. While the "powers" that be in most parishes are unwilling to utilize anything resembling tradition, most parents are simply looking for orthodoxy. The irony is that most progressive minded parish leaders are 'Ecumenical' and want 'Big Tent Catholicism' but to them that means protestantism and not traditional Catholicism. You are more likely to find Labyrinths and Protestant Praise and Worship music at many churches than you are Gregorian Chant or Latin.
Recently I heard stories that should SHOCK any Catholic, but unfortunately are becoming so common that they hardly phase even the most delicate of sensitivities. Stories where Catholics who have recently converted have no idea what the "Catholic Catechism" is, stories about Confirmation teachers calling the Mass "boring" or that one day the Church will finally have women priests. Priests that say praying isn't that important, or that the Body and Blood are not the True Presence at Mass, but instead the words refer to us, the people. These are all things that in and of themselves may seem like a correctable mistake but they are part of a larger systemic problem. No one is perfect, and I am not suggesting that we require perfection. I do think we should expect that those of us who choose to be Catholic are at least attempting to achieve perfection.
So what has happened is that the church in this country over the last 40+ years has focused on all the problems (read: tradition) that existed prior to the reforms of the Liturgy and used them as an excuse to conflate tradition with orthodoxy. The argument is essentially that rubrics, cannons, missals, and dogmas are restrictive and create complacency. We become bored and lost due to the rigid nature of our faith, therefore we must create a system where freedom and expression reign and where fluidity is a constant. Now you can argue against this theory, but if we look at the big picture we see this to be true. We hear of all the "abuses" that exist in the Liturgy, the problems of watered down faith, and a general loss of souls. This isn't because people are still clinging to rigidity, but because the baby was thrown out with the bath-water.
Concepts like True Presence, Heaven, Hell, Satan, Evil, Sin, Rubrics, Canons, etc... are all believed at a theoretical level, as opposed to a literal one. I say this because we can't actually believe these things and act the way we do. Think about it? This isn't judging others, it is simply looking at a big picture and commenting on what you do and don't see. People find reasons why they do and don't do things, and those reasons are usually justifications as to why they dont adhere to the black and white of the Faith. Once we start to explain, why we do something as a Catholic and the answer isn't: "Because the Church says so..." we are probably on the wrong path in that regard.
Which gets me back to my opening point. Say the Black, Do the Red. Our priests are meant to be teachers. They are in persona Christi. When they start walking their own path, we ourselves are going to wander. Think of a young child. If you are sitting at the dinner table with your family, and you pick up a pea and throw it at your child... what will they do? Throw it right back. You can't expect them to sit there, see that happen and rationalize: "well, they are an adult, and maybe this is a special instance where only they can safely throw food. In fact, I shouldn't take anything from this, except that maybe there is a very specific reason why they are doing so here, and it reveals some higher importance." No, they are simply going to pick up a handful of peas and you are now soon going to be covered in peas.
The future church
··†··
As a parent of a young child, I fear what some of our parishes will leave as a legacy to my child's generation. Certainly I have a role in that situation, but after 40+ years of progressiveness we have "advanced" to what? Many of our parishes are whitewashed and devoid of anything resembling the Sacred, our catechism classes are imparting a faith that has been altered similarly, and those of us that see a problem with that are marginalized and called 'divisive', 'judgmental', and 'uncharitable.'
Recently I heard stories that should SHOCK any Catholic, but unfortunately are becoming so common that they hardly phase even the most delicate of sensitivities. Stories where Catholics who have recently converted have no idea what the "Catholic Catechism" is, stories about Confirmation teachers calling the Mass "boring" or that one day the Church will finally have women priests. Priests that say praying isn't that important, or that the Body and Blood are not the True Presence at Mass, but instead the words refer to us, the people. These are all things that in and of themselves may seem like a correctable mistake but they are part of a larger systemic problem. No one is perfect, and I am not suggesting that we require perfection. I do think we should expect that those of us who choose to be Catholic are at least attempting to achieve perfection.
Tradition and Orthodoxy
··†··
The systemic problem comes down to those who have been running our churches for the past few decades and their conflation of the terms: tradition and orthodoxy. Orthodox, means an adherence to the objective teachings of the faith. It would seem simple, but we have seen this objective standard thrown out the window long ago, and now sides are fighting over the best way to eradicate and utilize the word, all at the same time. Tradition simply means things that we as Catholics have done for a long time, not simply because they are old, but because they are efficacious. The Rosary isn't grand because it is old, but because it is a Spiritual Weapon against evil. We don't use ships in warfare because we are sentimental about our forefathers, but because water and land are objective truths that exists. We are talking simple logic here, causation vs. correlation.So what has happened is that the church in this country over the last 40+ years has focused on all the problems (read: tradition) that existed prior to the reforms of the Liturgy and used them as an excuse to conflate tradition with orthodoxy. The argument is essentially that rubrics, cannons, missals, and dogmas are restrictive and create complacency. We become bored and lost due to the rigid nature of our faith, therefore we must create a system where freedom and expression reign and where fluidity is a constant. Now you can argue against this theory, but if we look at the big picture we see this to be true. We hear of all the "abuses" that exist in the Liturgy, the problems of watered down faith, and a general loss of souls. This isn't because people are still clinging to rigidity, but because the baby was thrown out with the bath-water.
The Greys...
··†··
Now what I am not advocating is a hermeneutic of rupture, nor am I advocating that the reforms of the second Vatican Council were themselves faulty. What I am arguing is that what happened after the council (regardless of correlative or causal) is that there were those that saw an opportunity to make the Church whatever they pleased. We no longer worried about operating in black or white, what mattered was control of the Greys. We are more worried about quantity than quality. Offending someone is more of a concern than the loss of their soul, which gets me to the ultimate point. We have stopped saying the black, and doing the red, because we don't really believe our faith. We can't... and at the same time act and speak the way we do. (Caveat: when I say we, I mean a large portion of Catholics "in charge" of our faith on a local level.)Concepts like True Presence, Heaven, Hell, Satan, Evil, Sin, Rubrics, Canons, etc... are all believed at a theoretical level, as opposed to a literal one. I say this because we can't actually believe these things and act the way we do. Think about it? This isn't judging others, it is simply looking at a big picture and commenting on what you do and don't see. People find reasons why they do and don't do things, and those reasons are usually justifications as to why they dont adhere to the black and white of the Faith. Once we start to explain, why we do something as a Catholic and the answer isn't: "Because the Church says so..." we are probably on the wrong path in that regard.
Which gets me back to my opening point. Say the Black, Do the Red. Our priests are meant to be teachers. They are in persona Christi. When they start walking their own path, we ourselves are going to wander. Think of a young child. If you are sitting at the dinner table with your family, and you pick up a pea and throw it at your child... what will they do? Throw it right back. You can't expect them to sit there, see that happen and rationalize: "well, they are an adult, and maybe this is a special instance where only they can safely throw food. In fact, I shouldn't take anything from this, except that maybe there is a very specific reason why they are doing so here, and it reveals some higher importance." No, they are simply going to pick up a handful of peas and you are now soon going to be covered in peas.
†††
No comments:
Post a Comment