Things are out of whack.
Seems as though everywhere you look, there are changes in the works. At times, these are as subtle as the erosion of rock beneath an ebbing tide; at others, as violent as an earthquake or a volcano. Things long held to be constant are no longer considered so. Surprises lurk at the dawn of every day, and around every corner. So much is happening so fast that it’s impossible to keep up. In fact, I’m beginning to think it’s not even a good idea. The picture that is emerging is one of staggering complexity. There are forces both natural and preternatural at work in the world, and they’re not just tinkering. The whole place is being remade before our eyes.
It’s easy to spend your days chasing shadows. Shining the light in every dark corner, trying to tease out truth from the tangled web of falsehoods laid like traps at every turn.
People are afraid. They are afraid of the turmoil they are experiencing in their lives, personally, professionally, spiritually. On the micro-level, things seem tumultuous and uncertain. In the aggregate, the transition that mankind is experiencing is tectonic in nature.
We will never be the same.
What we have known before will never be again.
I have written about little else lately than the evils I see at work in the world. It’s draining. I feel as though I’m trying to tackle an octopus by grabbing the ends of its tentacles, one at a time. Every time one issue is addressed, half a dozen others assert themselves. Around and around we go. It’s a Sisyphean task. And I wonder about the futility of it.
I’ve been trying for months to get people to open their eyes to the image of what is to come. What I have encountered are those who either say, “You have expressed what I, too, have been experiencing” or those who say, “You’re out of your mind. Things aren’t perfect, but they’re no worse than they ever were. You’re just stirring up trouble and hurting people’s faith.” So while many have told me they feel consoled by seeing their own thoughts echoed, none have said that they have come to be persuaded by what I have presented. The conclusion I am forced to reach is that you either see it or you don’t. If you do see it, you lack the capacity to unsee it, despite the discomfort it may cause you. If you don’t see it, no amount of evidence is going to remove the scales from your eyes.
Which makes me wonder: is there a point to what I’m doing?
The truth of much that is happening is obvious, even if the end game is not yet clear. The actors are on the stage, and by this point in the play you have either a good sense of who is a villain and who is not, or you are a fool. It appears that a large swath of the Catholic media, like their secular counterparts, have chosen sycophancy, safety, and the approbation of donors or powerful constituencies over truth-seeking. Some are burying their heads because they can’t face the music. Others have their own agendas, not least among them is holding on to the idea that “orthodox Catholicism” is synonymous with novusordoism and baseless papolatry.
Some are just nasty, miserable, pitiable human beings who attack anything outside their pre-determined worldview.
Since the existing gatekeepers are making a ferocious effort to maintain the status quo, not ask the difficult questions, and ultimately make themselves irrelevant, it seems clear that we need new ones. But who, and how? And to what end? To shout into the storm? To convince those who won’t be convinced?
And how can we transcend identifying the problem and work toward building something? The work of pointing out dangerous errors and hazardous trajectories is perhaps vital, but essentially negative. It takes away from energy that can and should be spent building something. We are not engaged in a positive endeavor when we are always playing defense.
We need a new strategy. And maybe it’s not a community-based thing. Maybe this isn’t something we can all do together. Maybe we are due for another wave of interior reform.
In a recent article for Crisis Magazine, my old professor, Dr. Regis Martin, wrote about this very thing as he recalled the life of Saint Benedict:
Sent to Rome as a student, Benedict experienced first hand the trauma of its loss and, recoiling from its depravities, fled into the wilderness to pursue an undistracted life of union with God.
And there amid the prayer and the fasting and all that attend the struggle to obtain self-mastery, young Benedict made an important discovery, one which would enable him to become a great light upon an age whose descent into darkness could not to be dispelled in any other way. He saw that by his very exertions to overcome himself, to draw nearer to God, to respond to those promptings of grace that Christ had come to dispense, the world that he’d fled was itself becoming a better and more wholesome place. In other words, by turning his back on the world in order to turn his face to God, Benedict had become, quite unwittingly, an instrument of the world’s regeneration.
As if the world could only be saved by those who turn their backs upon it.
What if this is the solution, not just to the situation in the world, but the crisis in the Church? What if ignoring Pope Francis and his cabal of heterodox prelates and their machinations to undermine Catholic life and thought is precisely the remedy for that very thing? I’ve always argued that the problem with being a discontented traditionalist is that Catholics believe in a hierarchy of authority. Grassroots movements don’t fit our understanding of the structure of the Church. We don’t agitate for change like the nuns on the bus, or Voice of the Faithful, or Call to Action, or Cardinals Kasper and Maradiaga. In fact, we’d prefer a whole lot less of it.
But holiness is transformative, if elusive. Holiness is not a demand for change, it is a change that creates demand. Have you ever encountered a truly holy person? You want to be in their presence. You want to hear them speak. But most importantly, you want to be like them. Rather than sparring with words and battling over doctrine, the saint converts by example. And if a saint cares deeply about doctrine, so will those they inspire.
I don’t know that this is the answer, but I know that it’s an important piece of the puzzle. I worry where it would leave those who don’t know better if everyone contented themselves with getting their own houses in order and leaving all else aside. But a world mired in darkness needs saints, and saints are made in the trenches of spiritual warfare and mastery of self, not in the ideological battles that consume the denizens of the Internet.
Probably, there’s more that needs doing. Maybe we need new Catholic media. Maybe we need more voices crying out in the wilderness. Maybe we need as many Catholics as possible shining light into the dark places.
Maybe we need all of the above. I wish I knew. What I do know is that the present circumstances need to change. How we go about that remains to be determined.
Steve, an excellent post. And very true. I wonder the same things.
But in addition to the transformative power of holiness, which we must seek constantly and pray God to give it to us, we can still sound the alarm. You’re right that it is a danger to us and is a negative function. You’re right that there are those who won’t see, and many who are already alerted. But in the battle for souls, you never know when a person reads and sees it for the first time. You are there for those times.
I suppose this is true. It’s just that it comes at personal cost. So I’d very much like to believe that it’s accomplishing something, and I do wonder.
I agree with that as well. Oremus pro invicem.
THE
SOCIETY’S
BRAG
There is a Rock
Upon we’re built
That evil men
Will sometimes tilt
And though they vex us
To the hilt
We never leave
Reject or jilt
We daily kneel
In His Blood spilt
To weigh down Rock
Of golden-gilt
And as they sink
In their sin’s silt
As though He built
On one lone stilt
Upon this Rock
His voice, love’s-lilt
We stand our ground –
Do what Thou wilt!
I’ll echo what Thetimman says. Sometimes someone needs to hear something 157 times before it takes hold. You never know if you’ll be the 7th or the 70th or the 157th, but they won’t get to 157 without hearing it every single time before that. The danger is becoming like Shea and seeing everyone who doesn’t “get it” as someone to be opposed rather than persuaded. Press on.
Not like Shea. Never like that, please.
Apologetics, of any kind, seems to be less about persuading the opposition and more about encouraging the faithful. The opposition have already decided, they will not be moved; but the faithful may be emboldened, or at the very least preserved in the grace they’ve been given. And although I’m far from faithful, your writing has done all those things for me.
Your words are too kind, Brian. Thank you for the encouragement.
Honestly, Steve, are you really claiming to be the one without a “pre-determined world-view” that you’re clinging to?
“The conclusion I am forced to reach is that you either see it or you don’t. If you do see it, you lack the capacity to unsee it, despite the discomfort it may cause you. If you don’t see it, no amount of information is going to remove the scales from your eyes.”
There is a further possibility: maybe you are the one who is wrong. Are you claiming, do you dare claim, that your eyes are free from scales, and that anyone who disagrees with you on these matters MUST be the one whose eyes have them? You can cite any book you want, but it seems to me that you can’t declare your own eyes holy unless you are God.
If you cast every single person who disagrees with you as either led astray by the devil, if they’re nice, or if they’re not nice, AS the devil, and will brook no dissent on the matter, then no, there ISN’T much point in talking. The more you talk, the more you’ll see your satan in every shadow, until you’re jumping at so many shadows that you can’t even sleep at night; and the more the people who disagree with you will feel that you’re just trying to browbeat them into saying “sir yes sir! I agree, sir! Since you’ll take no other answer!”
Of course, since you’ve declared so, you may wonder “well why are YOU telling me this, then, knowing that my knee will jerk at a hundred miles per hour to deny that anything you say is true?” Answer: Well, you asked.
I hope the anxieties you keep creating will eventually give way to peace for you, but human beings who choose to create them so have an endless ability to cook up more. Be well.
My worldview comes from understanding my religion and seeing quite clearly how the current regime is deviating from it.
The only pre-determined part of my understanding of the Church is that I know what she teaches.
“Are you claiming, do you dare claim, that your eyes are free from scales, and that anyone who disagrees with you on these matters MUST be the one whose eyes have them?”
Yes. I dare claim that. Not because I’m special, not because I’m holy, not because I’m particularly good. But for whatever reason, God has given me (and this is something I’ve always had; it isn’t new, and I don’t deserve it so go figure) the ability to see the truth amidst the haze of lies. Sometimes I see it right away, sometimes (as when I was involved with the Legionaries of Christ) it takes a while, but I always wind up seeing it.
I don’t know why. I’m not going to beat around the bush and play demure and heap on a bunch of false humility. It’s a spiritual gift, I have it through no merit of my own, and I assume I will be held to account for how I use it, or fail to.
Between my Holy Spirit-infused BS detector, my intellect, and my two decades of near-constant study of the Catholic faith, yes. I will put it on the line: This pope is a danger to Catholicism, and if you don’t see it, you’re either being fooled or you’re willfully ignoring the obvious.
Like most people, I enjoy being liked. I prefer to be popular rather than to be a pariah. But I’m done backing away from what every ounce of instinct and education I have tells me is true. I’ve never — and I’m not exaggerating — ever felt this strongly about something and been wrong.
Is there a possibility that I am? Sure. I’m a realist. But experience tells me the probability is extremely low. I’m not a risk-taker by nature. I wouldn’t put my neck on the line on a nascent hunch. I’ve had a pretty good and credible run in Catholic media as a reasonable traditionalist, and I’m willing to throw it all out because I believe what I’m saying, and I believe it needs to be heard.
The people protecting the status quo and attacking me, and my friends who have reached the same conclusions, aren’t taking a. single. risk. They have nothing to lose by spinning the “everything is fine” story and everything to gain. Anything less makes the benefactors nervous, and they can’t have that.
It’s no longer a question of battle lines being drawn. The war has begun, and everything is in play. The Church will never be the same. How it turns out is largely up to us, but known only to God.
“But for whatever reason, God has given me (and this is something I’ve always had; it isn’t new, and I don’t deserve it so go figure) the ability to see the truth amidst the haze of lies. Sometimes I see it right away, sometimes (as when I was involved with the Legionaries of Christ) it takes a while, but I always wind up seeing it.”
Yes. The gift of perception. I have it too. Few do, and I envy them because to have it is only a cause of much suffering. As I read once years ago in a book about a priest who also was gifted (or cursed) with this, you have to wait for everyone else to catch up with what you have already picked up on.
I’ve often wondered why I have it and what the purpose of it is, as it benefits no one, and is only a cause of suffering to myself.
“It’s no longer a question of battle lines being drawn. The war has begun, and everything is in play.”
I suppose you’re right. I guess I’ve been in the “battle lines being drawn” phase. It is a sobering thought.
Steve,
I have a curious theory regarding my own pessimistic (realistic) spiritual outlook as opposed to many of my Pollyanna Christian/Catholic friends/family.
The theory goes something like this: Perhaps lifelong followers of Christ who have managed to remain relatively pure and free from the ‘dark side’ are much less likely to ‘see’ or detect hidden evil?
I base this little theory on my own experience in college of being a blasphemous Nietzschean atheist who harbored a contemptuous attitude toward the poor, weak and dumb of this world and their foolish protectors (Christians) and God (Jesus – the Suffering Servant).
If not for a Saul of Tarsus like conversion I see how easily my warped worldview would have solidified into something truly diabolical as I advanced in years. I find it absolutely inconceivable that there aren’t numerous men (and women), far more intelligent, wealthy and in positions of power, than I ever would’ve been, who live and act out of such a hardened and warped worldview.
So many of my Christian/Catholic friends think I’m nothing more than a ‘Grim-Geekster’ who views the world and ESPECIALLY the Church and Her Shepherds in a ‘negative’ way. Well, guilty as charged… I can’t help seeing the world (and Church) through any other ‘eyes’ than the ones given me by God.
I believe that those who have at one time allied themselves to evil frequently have an intuition, by God’s grace, to detect evil well before those who have, thanks be to God, been protected from such knowledge.
Who knows? All I do know is that it’s a great encouragement to read your postings and to know that there are other brothers (and sisters) who view the world and the Church through the same set of lenses.
Thank you, God bless and keep up the good fight!
“This pope is a danger to Catholicism, and if you don’t see it, you’re either being fooled or you’re willfully ignoring the obvious.”
Aye, but how severe a danger?
Considering the current state of catechesis and the pressures coming from the secular world for the Church to change doctrines most Catholics already disagree with?
I’d say the biggest danger we’ve ever faced. If you wanted to be conservative, at least as bad as Arianism.
“”Are you claiming, do you dare claim, that your eyes are free from scales, and that anyone who disagrees with you on these matters MUST be the one whose eyes have them?”
Yes. I dare claim that. Not because I’m special, not because I’m holy, not because I’m particularly good. But for whatever reason, God has given me (and this is something I’ve always had; it isn’t new, and I don’t deserve it so go figure) the ability to see the truth amidst the haze of lies. Sometimes I see it right away, sometimes (as when I was involved with the Legionaries of Christ) it takes a while, but I always wind up seeing it.
I don’t know why. I’m not going to beat around the bush and play demure and heap on a bunch of false humility. It’s a spiritual gift, I have it through no merit of my own,”
Wow. Well, to quote Dire Straits, “two men say they’re Jesus; one of them must be wrong.” Or in this case, I don’t say I’m Jesus, nor do I claim the God-given ability to see better what Jesus considers the truth, as you seem to be doing. I assume that at the end, Jesus MAY (if I’m very, very lucky) tell me, “well, you did get such and such correct,” but also “but boy, were you EVER wrong about [lists items until I crumple in a heap of completely UNfalse humility].” Nevertheless, I disagree with you: I DON’T think that God has given you a peculiar ability to see the truth, any more than mine, and one of us must be wrong. I guess that’s that, though. God bless.
False humility is just as bad as hubris. I’ve lived long enough to know my strengths and my weaknesses. I’m not going to say, “Oh, man, you’re right, Andrew! I have no idea what I’m talking about!!”
I get deceived all the time. I fall into sin. I do stupid crap. I hurt the people around me. I didn’t say I’m God, I said I have good instincts about certain kinds of things. And this is one of them. I take that to be a spiritual gift. I take it to be so because nothing about me, or who I am, would lend itself to great accuracy.
You don’t have to believe me. I do.
I do agree that false humility is as bad as hubris.
However, as far as saying you have no idea what you’re talking about, that comes pretty close to putting words in my mouth that I never said. It doesn’t imply stupidity, or that someone “doesn’t know what [he’s] talking about” to say “when you claim the Pope, or people who find his words or ideas convincing, are satanic, I think you may be incorrect.”
As far as how good your instincts are on things like that, how do you measure that? If it’s based on your responses from other people, or other Catholics, then that is strange to me: for your every thread, you will find several people saying “you are articulating JUST what I feel.” Well, so do I. Voila! We’re each completely right.
Oops, but the OTHER half of the posters will say: “you are WAY off base.” Hey presto! Each of us is each wrong again.
If it’s based only on your OWN subjective experience, then the same thing applies: your debating opponents would all say the same about their own instincts. So everyone’s instincts, apparently, are perfect.
I have felt the spiritual darkness in society coming on for at least 8 years. Pope Emeritus Benedict was my hope in this darkness. He still saw and spoke the truth, and it uplifted me. Pope Francis says good and bad, some very good things, but many other things clearly wrong and disturbing, and a danger to souls.
Yes, it is a war. We experienced a curious intervention of the Holy Spirit indicating something to do with “Gone with the Wind”, at least for our family, if not for society. No one would believe the things we have seen in this war. The demonic is out in the open at times, and those who speak the truth have to accept the persecution that comes with the battle. The thing I was not prepared for was the strong presence of the Enemy within the Church. Also, the internal suffering of preternatural attacks on the will, causing confusion and mental anguish and a black despondency impressed from outside. The strength of the attacks took my breath away. There is NO DOUBT that promoting error is important to the Enemy. But the Lord is with us and helps our timidity. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”
“The demonic is out in the open”
Yes. I can attest to this. People who haven’t experienced an elevated level of spiritual attack may not know what you mean, but they have become brazen.
And overcoming them is anything but simple.
Could it be that those who are the closest to the truth are attacked the most? Those who gleefully float through whatever the fashion of the day gives them, don’t see these kind of attacks?
Steve — There is always value in speaking up. Often there is a personal cost for doing so. As you are well know this. Just remember what happened to St. John the Baptist.
I appreciate your articles for their measured tone and concise language. I check almost everyday for new articles because they do help me.
But, for me, I think the world became more unhinged in the ’08 and finally the ’12 National election. I strongly felt that America and western culture were in steep decline and nearing a significant fall. This was also a period of spiritual awakening for me. I realized that my only hope was in Christ and his Church. And, that efforts on my personal sanctity was the only thing that would get me thru the coming Wars. I still feel that way even more. Mass, prayer and especially the holy eucharist have been a sort of ground that I can always rely on to stop the sinking.
We’ll see you on the other side of what ever this thing(s) turn out to be or not be.
Keith
To me, this time seems like a Greek Tragedy, with a few Cassandras forlornly giving out a warning of things to come.
Myself, after years of battling the Pit of Despair on the parish level, has withdrawn to a quiet, cloistered place to strengthen what remains in my own life and family.
And as others have commented, the influence and power of the enemy is remorseless. It is extremely difficult to explain to those who have not crossed swords with demonic powers the insidious oppression, darkness, and attacks that occur.
I am grateful for your writings Mr. Skojec; they remind me I am not without others who also understand. I would miss your posts, but a season of withdrawing from the battlefield is more than understandable. Battles ebb and flow, both individually and collectively.
“Myself, after years of battling the Pit of Despair on the parish level, has withdrawn to a quiet, cloistered place to strengthen what remains in my own life and family.”
I wonder if you wouldn’t mind expounding a little bit on what this means when you say you have withdrawn? Do you receive the Sacraments? I’ve mentioned it here before, but I’ve been without them for 10 months now ever since I stopped going to the N.O. (I had reached my breaking point), with no easy access to a TLM. I have no peace as long as my soul isn’t in a state of grace. I’m becoming obsessed with my eternal destiny, and I just don’t know how to get myself right.
Both. Moved to a very small, rural town without easy access to a TLM. Attended a TLM nearly two hours away for a long while, but it just isn’t feasible in our circumstances to keep that up. The parish wants parishioners to be very involved in the life of the parish and that is impossible for us. We have gone to a couple NO parishes locally, but one might as well attend a Baptist or Pentecostal service, so we are basically without Mass on a regular basis. Ironically, this has forced us to be more diligent with the Rosary and with reading and studying Scripture. It is a sense of being cloistered. I struggle with the idea that I am in mortal sin for not attending the NO Mass, which is something foreign to me now that I have come to know the Mass of the Ages. We are living in interesting times…
Sorry, I thought I had replied directly to you here, but my response is further below.
I like you, Steve. You are refreshing.
I’ve been on the internet for about eight or so years. The earlier years were spent in lurking. This is what I have observed. The vast majority of Catholic fora and bloggers are damage control and/or white-washers. Common to many is the absolute disdain of anything traditional. I’ve also marveled at how obvious trolls and operatives are given broad leeway while anyone who dares to speak the truth is instantly banned or suspended.
I don’t know what the answer is anymore. Quite frankly, lately I have felt that I am losing whatever marbles I have left. I keep telling myself that what is happening can’t be happening.
Those here who are young, or younger, have it a bit easier than those of us who have been in the battle since the beginning and remember not only a saner world, but a much saner Church. I watched both unravel. How to get it back? Only Divine Intervention, or something so terrible and long-lasting will have to happen to fundamentally effect a permanent change in people.
Young men and women are out of control. Mental illness is rife. Wrong is right and right is wrong. Justice is on the side of injustice. Everything is upside down and inside out.
Pray for me, and I will pray for all here.
The most important question I have is this: where to live out the battle? In our novus ordo pews? Or are things bad enough to warrant seeking refuge in either an SSPX or a sedevacantist chapel for all of the sacraments, not just the Mass?
Lorra — If I may, the most important place to live out the battle is to make sure your own battlements are as secure as you can make them with God’s grace. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying that all of us first and individuals have to sanctify ourselves just as the friars of old. Prayer, Mass, penance, mortification and the holy eucharist.
We have no EF within 5 hour two way drive. We may end up going once a month or so just to get close to the liturgy. We have a small mens religious group nearby. While they celebrate in the NO, the routine and daily abuses are absent (Deo gratias). If possible, I would suggest something similar for you if it is possible. Care and caution on the SSPX and sedevacantist chapels. We poor humans only see the today. We have no idea what God has in store for us. I’m not pollyanna.
Keith, thank you. My trouble is that I am isolated. Things are hard enough without having the added cross of no human support. In short: I am spiritually alone. Yes, I know, I am never really alone, but it would be nice to have a human being I could talk to and commiserate with about all of this. Even Our Lord had Our Lady, and even Our Lady had St. John after Her Son ascended.
Byzantine-rite parishes can be a refuge.
“I don’t know that this is the answer, but I know that it’s an important piece of the puzzle. I worry where it would leave those who don’t know better if everyone contented themselves with getting their own houses in order and leaving all else aside. But a world mired in darkness needs saints, and saints are made in the trenches of spiritual warfare and mastery of self, not in the ideological battles that consume the denizens of the Internet.”
Remember that Satan told St. John Vianney that if he (Satan) had four more priests like St. John Vianney in the world, it would put him out of business.
Yes, holiness is powerful. This is why I think that the internet is nothing more than a big diabolical trap for all of us. What good does or has it done? I blame my grace deprivation on the novus ordo, but maybe it is this dastardly machine. I am sorry I ever got involved with it, because it won’t be easy to wean myself from it. It is like any other addiction. Only this one, there is no pill to take to help with the withdrawal symptoms. I would have to do it cold turkey, and the prospect is scary.
Sorry to monopolize your place with my comments, but the more I re-read both your article and the comments, different things leap out at me.
Thank you for the reflection on the life of St. Benedict! It summarize my thoughts as of lately and I believe it hits the nail on the head and provides the single answer to your questions: personal holiness. Personal holiness must be the most direct way to bring about the changes we need. Internet squabbles and everything like it can’t compare. Retreat from the world as much as you are able and do whatever it will take to become holier and more perfect in your vocation. Don’t let the devil distract you from your primary responsibility and your vocation. It seems that too many people have and that’s been a big contributor to the current state of things. Personal holiness must be the key. Don’t worry about anything else or anyone else. Really, Steve! Your holiness will spread through the world like wildfire.
Aloha Mr. Skojec, the LORD’s chosen ones do not labor in vain; the victory is the LORD’s, Even if he appears to delay, he will come, waiting for those who refuse to repent to fill their cup, to attain the full measure of their sins before he punishes them. In the meantime, let the sinner go on sinning, and the unclean continue to be unclean; let those who do good go on doing good, and those who are holy continue to be holy.
Yes, the battle is within, against principalities.
Some years ago (in the pages of The Latin Mass or Catholic Family News, I forget which) Edwin Faust compared the Church to ‘a mad mother who has abandoned her children’. For Faust and his family, the adjustment has been to attend independent chapels offering the old rite. Faust’s statement at the time was a bit of illustrative hyperbole. Francis at times seems intent on making it literal.
The evil in our world is so vast and has penetrated everything to such a degree that it will take God Himself to undo it. He has given this victory to the loving hands of His Mother. We can’t know what we have to do on any large scale–each one of us has a part to play in Mary’s victory, and each role will be unique. Now is the time for us to turn in prayer to her, to our guardian angels, and to the Holy Spirit to be led to our part in the battle. But none of our efforts are in vain. Some of us may save only our families, some will lead individual lost souls back to God, and some will be the ones to help rebuild the Church and the world when everything crashes. One thing is certain–if we keep our faith, we will be lights to the rest of the world when it is in the darkness to come. And those of us having the gift (that feels like a curse) to see this coming will be prepared–spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, and perhaps even physically–to be strong and steady for all those who today can’t or won’t see it. Always stay close to the General, Mary, and her victory will also be ours!
And so can the Anglican/Catholic Ordinariate if you have one near you.
Battle lines being drawn indeed: http://abbey-roads.blogspot.com/2014/05/i-had-dream-i-quit-blogging.html
Save the Liturgy, Save the World. I know it’s a trite theme but it makes sense. Until people start reforming their liturgical worship and start giving credit where credit is due (Almighty God) and stop worshipping themselves (Novus Ordo) God will continue to let us languish in this spiritual wasteland.
Thank you kindly for your reply. Like you said, these are interesting times. More and more I seem to be coming across others who are experiencing similar situations as to my own. It’s quite helpful not to feel so alone, so I appreciate any feedback as I continue to pray and study for a solution to this dilemma. These two links that I read yesterday have furthered my resolve to stay away from the NO.
http://www.cfnews.org/page10/page66/salza_novus_ordo.html
http://www.dici.org/en/news/62-reasons-why-in-conscience-we-cannot-attend-the-new-mass/
This is for Char H. For some reason I could not reply to your post with the links, so I’m replying on the main thread.
Thank you for the links. I will take some time to read them today. I am one of those people who has only attended a reverent NO Mass at a monastery (and even then the liturgical abuses were legion). In my old parish, there seemed to be a certain delight in violating every sense of reverence for the Lord. Vacation Bible School staff workers ran skits on the altar (in costume no less) to promote VBS, projection screens were routinely used to promote diocesan and parish events, the Mass rubrics varied from priest to priest, and so on. In the closest NO parish at my current location, the priest had a laying-on-of-hands moment in the middle of Mass with some young people, while railing against Pope BXVI, and to this day I am convinced that it was not a valid Mass. The priest basically made up the words as he went along. We tried another parish about 30 minutes away, and the Sunday Mass was over in about 30 minutes, while the usual innovations were on display.
After awhile, if one has any sense of what the Faith is meant to be, one can see that a TLM and NOM are not the same thing. The rupture is plain as day, and that is where I think heartbreakingly of Pope BXVI who has clung to a hermenutic of continuity as a way out of the schism that is surely approaching.
Again, thanks for the links. God bless you and all who have found a temporary haven here.
“There is no period of history which doesn’t end in catastrophe. The first period of history began with creation and ended in the Flood. And what does the Flood signify? Two things: the natural triumph of evil over good and the supernatural triumph of God over evil, by means of a direct, personal, sovereign act.
Men were still wringing wet with the waters of the Flood, when the same battle started up again … At our Lord’s coming it was everywhere night, deep, palpable night. The Lord is raised on the cross, and daylight returns to the world. What does that great catastrophe signify? Two things: the natural triumph of evil over good, and the supernatural triumph of God over evil, by means of a direct, personal, sovereign act.
What does Scripture say of the end of the world? It says that the Antichrist will be lord of the universe, and that the last judgment will take place at that time, along with the last catastrophe. Like the others, it will signify the natural triumph of evil over good, and the supernatural triumph of God over evil, by means of a direct, personal, sovereign act.
And don’t tell me that if defeat is certain, fighting is useless. In the first place, fighting can lessen, can soften the catastrophe; and in the second place, for us whose glory it is to be Catholic, fighting is the accomplishment of a duty, not the result of calculation. Let’s thank God for having allowed us to do battle. Beyond this favour, let’s not seek the grace to win. For those who fight generously for His cause, His infinite goodness reserves a reward far greater and more precious to man than victory here below.”
– Juan Donoso Cortés, 1846