Traditional Catholics get a bad rap. I’ve heard repeatedly from the more “moderate” Catholics or even the so-called “conservative” Catholics that they don’t like us trads much. One of the biggest things I keep hearing is, “You trads all want to go back to the 1950s.” Or, “Traditionalists want to go back to an era that never really existed.”
Or some other such nonsense as that. Non “trad” Catholics assume that we traditional types assume that there was such a time in the history of the Church when all was hunky-dory, all sunshine and roses and holiness. But that is just simply not true. We know that the Church has always had problems. We are well aware that there were problems and heretics in the Church well before Vatican II. I think a better understanding of us traditional types is not that we want to go back to some la-la land that doesn’t exist but rather that we seek a return to the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Much of this is wrapped around the liturgy used in the Mass for sure. But it’s not all about the Mass. The Mass gets focused on because it is the “source and summit of the Christian life,” according to the new Catholic Catechism promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992. The worshipping life of the Church has always revolved around the Eucharist, so it is rightly focused upon and is the single most important “bone of contention” between the traditional and moderate or conservative Catholic. But there are other differences as well. One of the big things that comes up in any discussion of this is a “rupture” with Tradition. Now, I want to be very clear here. I am not a sedevacantist. Whether I “like it” (and it doesn’t matter whether I do nor not) or not, Pope Francis is the Pope. But, rather than quibble about that, I choose to pray for him. The problem is what is seen as a break with Tradition. At least from my perspective, that’s the problem. And, if I’m being honest, it seems really obvious to me that, since Vatican II, there has been a serious break with the traditional teaching of the Church. On many topics. There is more to it than just the liturgy, as important as that is. So, I decided to go back. I wanted to read what the pre-conciliar popes had to say on things. So, I am in the process of reading the encyclicals of the pre-conciliar popes. Specifically, Pope Pius XII, Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius X, Pope Pius IX, Pope Pius XI, Pope Leo XIII and Pope Gregory XVI. What I have been reading, to date, is blowing my mind. These men were profound theological and philosophical thinkers who also, it seems, were prophetic in their writings against “modernism.” My intentions are to go through some of the encyclicals and interact with the writings of some of the pre-conciliar Popes, especially as it relates to what is going on in the Church today. I can’t promise that I’ll always be “nice”, but I can promise that I’ll always be respectful to the positions these men (today) hold. My intent here is not to criticize so much as it is to point out to modern Catholics that the deposit of the faith was protected once upon a time by our Pontiff and the bishops in communion with him. In the face of what appears to be a profound departure from the deposit of faith, it behooves us today to know what the Church has historically taught and what our holy Popes have taught. The truth in today’s modern Church is that it appears on the surface that it will be a very few bishops and priests and the laypeople who will have to maintain the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Pray, brothers and sisters, for our bishops, our priests. Hold them accountable and call them out for their nonsense. You are allowed to do that. Be respectful but don’t be afraid to call a spade a spade when it’s needed. We are to obey our bishops and priests so long as what they are teaching and telling us to do aligns with the teaching of the Church for all time. When they start making stuff up that is contained in neither Holy Scripture nor Holy Tradition, our obedience is not due them. But, how are we to know what is part of Holy Tradition? Fortunately for us, it has been preserved in the writings of the great doctors of the Church, the great Councils (especially Trent) and our great Popes. This is called the Magisterium. I’m looking forward to this. I hope you’ll join me as we go. As you do, you can read all these documents yourself. You can find them all on the Vatican’s website or online. These are readily available for now so avail yourself of the opportunity. Something that will be helpful moving forward is to define and give some characteristics of a couple of terms and ideas. One is what is called Modernism; the other is Liberalism. Modernism is “a dominant philosophical trend of the 20th century, one still persistent today, is founded on the belief that man is the supreme measure of all reality. Modernism does not simply seek progress and prosperity; it champions an entirely new worldview, one directly at odds with the Catholic Faith.” (sspx.org) What are its characteristics? “Truth, according to the modernist, depends upon each individual’s subjective perceptions and beliefs, not upon any objective, universal order descending from God. Truth thus changes from person to person, from age to age, from place to place, and modernism insists that human reason alone can determine what is right and wrong, good and bad, true and false. Most importantly, all individuals have a right by their very existence to exercise this subjective judgment as best pleases them, so long as they do not injure the rights of another individual. Modernism is, therefore, primarily concerned with protecting and promoting the advancement of the human condition through natural justice, technological progress, religious tolerance, temporal peace, and material prosperity. Man is the measure and end of all things, and no objective reality is more important that his natural well-being here and now.” (sspx.org) And Liberalism? “Liberalism pretends to free man from any constraint not wished or accepted by himself.
I apologize for lengthy quotations, but it helps us to define terms before proceeding. Keep these in mind as we progress. I look forward to exploring together our great deposit of the faith! Deo gratias!
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Have you ever found joy in a strange place or at a strange time? It’s like you are in your darkest hour and suddenly find joy. An example from my life was when my sister died. It was one of, if not the, darkest times in my life. And yet, joy came from and during that dark time. During that time, my relationship with my parents was renewed. Joy in the darkness.
Our readings this week are sort of like that. In the traditional calendar, this Sunday is known as Laetare Sunday. What, you may ask, is that? Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, takes its name from the Latin word which begins the entrance antiphon (introit) for that day. Laetare means rejoice, and this Sunday is marked by a relaxation of the penitential character of the Lenten season. This is Laetare Sunday when we consider the joy before us of the Easter season, joy in the solemn time of Lent. Joy is one of those things that gets really misunderstood and is wrongly defined. We tend to think that joy and happiness are the same thing. They are not. Happiness is an emotion, a feeling that all is going well for you. Happiness, in our human experience, is largely tied to stuff; a good job, marriage is good, feeling fine, that sort of thing. Joy, on the other hand, is a much deeper thing. True joy is not based, necessarily, in the emotional realm. Joy is a deep-rooted experience that comes from a settled feeling of contentment and is usually not based on stuff. Joy is not happiness. So, even during a penitential season like Lent, even while we meditate on our sinfulness and mortify our flesh and do penance, we can have joy. Our joy, as followers of Christ, comes from something that is outside of us. All the readings from this week resound with this theme of joy, from the Introit to the Gradual, the Epistle and Gospel. Epistle: Galatians 4:22-31 Gospel: John 6:1-15 Our Epistle text is really interesting as it relates to joy. In fact, you may read it and wonder how it has anything to do with joy. The situation that St. Paul is referring to in this text is found in Genesis 16. I’m not going to go into that but, if you like, you can go back and read it. What St. Paul is talking about here is primarily found in what St. Paul calls the “children of promise.” And what is meant by that? St. Paul reminds us of the story of Abraham having two sons born to him; one from a slave woman and the other from his wife, Sarah. He says in verse 23 that the son born of the slave was “born according to the flesh” but the son (Isaac) that was born of his wife Sarah was “by promise.” What does that mean? Abraham was promised a son. Through that son all nations would be blessed. But Abraham and Sarah couldn’t wait on that promise. They took matters into their own hands, so to speak, and decided they would preempt the promise of God and have a son by the slave woman. But God’s purpose was not be denied or thwarted, no matter how much Abraham took matters into his own hands “according to the flesh.” God’s promised son was born despite Sarah’s manipulation and Abraham’s capitulation. There’s something here for us as well: Let us trust in the promises of God and trust His timing. Taking matters into our own hands mostly leads to disaster and sin. We can always rely on the promises of God. But, St. Paul tells us that he’s reading this story, also, in an allegorical sense. These two sons are “the two testaments.” One, born of the slave, is born under the law. The other, born under promise, is “free.” And Paul relates this to what he calls “Jerusalem.” In Paul’s treatment of Jerusalem, we see the Church. Look at verse 26. St. Paul tells us, “But that Jerusalem, which is above, is free: which is our mother.” He is referring to the Church. The Church is our mother. And we, St. Paul tells us, are the new children of promise. Look at verse 28. The promise of God is salvation by the gift of grace. Isaac did nothing to earn it. He was merely born. So now, the child of promise is one who is born of faith, not of the flesh, as St. Paul tells us. That is us. We who are of the faith are the children of promise. In turning to our Gospel, we are tempted to think these two texts have nothing to do with one another. This is the miraculous feeding of “a very great multitude.” How many people exactly that is we do not know. What we do know is there were about 5000 men. That’s men only. Jesus miraculously feeds them by multiplying the loaves and fishes. What we see here is a pre-figuring of the Eucharist. Jesus is giving a foretaste of what is to come after His ascension. The 1955 St. Andrews Daily Missal tells us that this is the Easter Sacrament, promised to the baptized children of the promise. What joy is ours, that THE Child of the promise, who is Christ the Lord, has become for us the Lamb that was slain on our behalf! But not just slain; risen indeed! This is the Easter promise of the Child. There is One who, for us and for our sins, would be born. He would be the Child of promise in which Isaac is pre-figured. He would be the Seed that will bless the nations. He would be the Seed of the Woman who will crush the head of the great serpent, our enemy! Now we, like the Psalmist can say, “I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord.” (Ps. 121:1) What joy is ours, we who rejoice in the promise of the Child! He, being the Firstborn of many brethren, has become for us our sacrifice. Now, with great joy, we go to the house of the Lord, to the house of our Father. There, in the Easter Sacrament, in the Eucharist, we may taste the joy of our salvation! One day….oh, one day, dearly beloved! One day we shall see our Lord Jesus Christ face to face! One day we shall see the Eucharistic Lamb who was slain! One day we shall see the great Child of the promise, our Elder Brother, Jesus! With the Father, in the bosom of Mother Church, He has gone before us and He has won our salvation! What promise, what joy is ours in Christ our Lord! Deo gratias! |
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