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Thursday, October 2 2008

Going To Mass

Over the years, I have been to many different forms of Mass at many different parishes. Some of them I have liked, some I have not liked, and others I have gone from liking to disliking or vice versa. I started consciously thinking about what was really going in Mass on after my family moved to the States about 7 1/2 years ago. We started going to a parish that was relatively conservative after attending a few of the other parishes in town, finding them a bit to liberal for us. A new pastor had just been installed at the parish, and he started making all kinds of changes. Now many people, when they hear the word "change", they associate it with something bad. However, the changes that the priest put into effect essentially turned this parish into one of the more conservative churches in town. There were still things that were a bit too "modern", but for the most part, we we're pretty happy there.

A few years later, we moved a few miles out of town, to where the trip in became a 35-45 minute one way trip. We started looking for something a bit closer, trying one of the parishes that was about half the distance. That didn't work out. That parish had a bit of a tendency to be a little Protestant leaning, and not as Catholic, so we didn't continue going there. A few weeks later, a new parish mission started up even closer, so we tried that one to see if it would hold any better tidings towards tradition and conservatism. Nope. Bad things started happening there as well. So we started going back to the original parish we had been attending for many years, feeling that the drive was worth it.

Things went relatively well for a little while. We went to Mass, generally just putting up with the piddly stuff that exists in most Novus Ordo parishes. And then it happened... I met a young lady, we started dating, and I started attending her parish, which was the Traditional Latin Mass. I really enjoyed this Mass. It was great, without the sappy songs and limp-wristed homilies. I went there for about a year, while dating this girl. Then we broke up and I started going back to the Novus Ordo with my parents. For the next year and a half, things started to change though. We started getting more annoyed with the liturgy and the people involve, until the final straw was a new pastor that came in and started changing things to fit his idea of how the liturgy should work. A lot of it wasn't even in the GIRM that it should be done that way. So we left... again.

Leaving brought on a new round of trying to figure out where to go to Mass. I told my parents that I was going to the Latin Mass, that they could join me if they wanted to. That week, my mom called me as I was on my way to Mass, and she joined me. A month later, we are still going there, and really liking it. The Latin Mass is a nice change of pace compared to the other Masses we had been attending. It has really brought more peace to our family, and we are all liking the change in scenery. So, for the time being, we are going to continue to attend this Mass, and thank God it is there for us.

Tuesday, September 30 2008

Tired of it All

Let's take a look at the situation of the Diocese of Progress, USA. In this diocese, the laypeople run the show, planning out everything from the Saturday night bingo to the liturgy for every service in the area. However, the laypeople do not want the traditional liturgy, preferring the sappier, happier liturgy prominent in many Protestant denominations. The clergy in this diocese just go along with what the laypeople want, as they do not have the will to fight for what is right. Any mention of perhaps getting some sort of traditional Mass in one of the Diocese's many churches runs up against strong opposition from the lay liturgists. As a matter of fact, the traditionalists are squashed, their concerns never even seeing the light of day. This is because the laypeople that run the show in the Diocese of Progress are progressive. They don't want to regress into what the Church was, instead wanting to turn the Church into a modern entity that appeals to every progressive social movemnent of the new age. You want an abortion? We'll support your decision! You're gay? Let's welcome you with open arms! The focus of the Mass goes from the Eucharist to the community. Good, solid teaching goes down the drain, and the people never hear about the true teaching of the Church of Rome, instead only hearing about whatever liberal drivel the highest bidder requests.

Does this sound bad for a Roman Catholic Diocese? In case you're confused by this rhetorical question, the answer is yes. The Roman Catholic Church has held the same views on such issues as abortion and homosexuality for 2000 years. Why would we want to change now? If you're not comfortable with what the Catholic Church teaches about stuff like that, then maybe you're in the wrong church. Funny thing is, believing in that stuff leaves you out of even being considered a Christian. There's just no way around that.

So let's say that a strong-willed Bishop with a real backbone comes along and takes over the Diocese of Progress. The first thing he does is make the priests in the area start cleaning up the liturgical act of the churches. He gives those liberal liturgists their walking papers, and tells the rest of the community to get on the Roman bandwagon, or get out of the way. Is this even possible anymore?