Sunday, April 28, 2013

The train has left the station.


Apologies.  I'm doing/renewing a Marian Consecration and had a few things on the calendar this week that prevented me from blogging.   One of those things was attending a Latin Mass (and lecture) said by Fr. Z (at St. Paul's in Cambridge).

I haven't been to a Latin Mass for about ten years.  Not that any reader here has to be reminded, but boy, have we been robbed.   In so many ways. 

And, what a gift it was to encounter such a gracious, joyful, articulate and truthful priest. He has a great sense of humor and is head over heels in love with Our Lord, His Church, Sacraments and the salvation of souls.  A genuinely good soul who is on fire.

You know that banal phrase the moonbats robotically repeat as the license to insert themselves into the role of the cleric at Mass?  Create a distracting three-ring Barnum and Baily circus around the sacred moments of Sacrifice?   I've purged it from my mind - something like blah blah bloobloo active participation blah blah blah?

He spoke the silliness of it all and what I believe to be the greatest larceny of laity in the circus around the Novus Ordo -the obfuscation of (what he called) active receptivity of the Mass.

What I have often referred to as the intimacy with Christ in the Liturgy.  The purpose of attending to receive.  To place yourself in the Presence of Christ for the purpose of actively drawing from Him.   To quite literally place your mind and soul into Christ with the intention of purification and gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Gifts we desperately need as we go through our day with our families, home, work, community.

I really have to work at it in the Novus Ordo.  It takes every bit of my concentration.   I realized after his lecture - it was soooo easy to do in the Latin Mass.   I was able to get there much more quickly and stay there through the entire Mass.

I didn't have a guide, but did have my Magnificat and just prayed the Mass in English.  Was pretty much united with him (and the community) as they prayed in Latin.

I have chosen to stay in Crete, so that when things get crazy, when the asinine turns into spiritual abuse of the poor lambs, I can pursue justice, stop it.  But I could get very used to seeking refuge in the Latin Mass from time to time.

In the question and answer period after his lecture, an attendee very respectfully expressed concerns around the Pope Francis hoohaa.    Fr. Z's honest, articulate handling of this question really demonstrated the fruit of sanctifying grace.

He said the Jesuits are not Liturgical and there may be some ground lost here and there, but the eight years of Pope Benedict gave us what we need and the train has left the station and it is unstoppable. He is absolutely right.  

When answering this question, he also addressed Pope Francis' focus on the corporal works of mercy. He said he believes it to be the right path because the people have lost their ability to reason  (what we often refer to here as diabolical disorientation) and drawing them in with the corporal works of mercy is a good game plan.

I think that depends upon if he silences the teachings of the Church and/or makes the corporal works of mercy the sacrament that absolves one of the sins they simultaneously have going down in their life.   As Christ warned, many will say I fed the hungry and did this or that in Your Name and He will say Get out, I do not know you and the things you did were unauthorized.

That is not a good enough end game for evangelists and parents whose children need the clear instructions from Catholic priests, bishops and our Pope.

14 comments:

Theresa DeSimone said...

Hey Carol...I`m a daily reader but not much of a commenter...don`t have your ability to express myself so eloquently. I attend the Sunday TLM at St Adelaides in West Peabody...such an immense joy!!! such amazing, holy priests!I also make the jaunt to Mary Immaculate of Lourdes in Newton from time to time ..Fr Higgins is amazing and devout as well! Newton is probably closer for you and well worth the trip.Once you attend on a regular basis nothing can compare! God Bless, and thank you for your time and sacrifice, Theresa

TTC said...

Theresa, thank you for saying hello. Your comment was actually quite cogent and eloquent.

I will definitely be attending more often and may even seek permanent refuge. I just came from the Novus Ordo and heard the priest explain the 'new evangelization' being promoted by the Archdiocese of Boston, the focus of which is 'welcoming'.

"Welcoming" on face value is important to outreach but in Boston, the execution of the stratagem has been pressure on priests to silence Church teaching and replace the pursuit of sanctifying grace and the redemption of souls with the cacophony of giddy to temporarily lift the low-self esteem of souls wallowing in the muck of the state of defiance and sin.

You're not going to believe this, but priests were told yesterday that the Cardinal will be sending out secret police to spy on them -- not to ensure priests are teaching the Catholic religion--but to 'mark them' on their 'welcoming'.

Color me suspicious.

I've got news for the Cardinal's police force. They will be facing some stiff competition in blogosphere.

Faithful Catholics are proceeding with plans to put together the blog on the unfaithful pastors in this Archdiocese to permanently and publicly 'mark' the jackassery.

Restore-DC-Catholicism said...

Let's see if I have this straight. Somehow the Corporal Works of Mercy are going to somehow bypass people's deadened reasoning capabilities? If that's what Father Z said, with all due respect, that's utter nonsense. People need to receive copious amounts of the Spiritual Works of Mercy, e.g., Instruct the Ignorant, Rebuke the Sinner, Counsel the Doubtful, etc. This over-emphasis on the Corporal Works of Mercy has allowed the "social justice" crowd to co-opt them as a way of wedging their way to positions of influence. We certainly don't need more of that.

Louise said...

The first time that I experienced the active participation that one hears so much about was the first time I attended a traditional Latin Mass. What an exhilarating but deeply peaceful experience.

This past Easter, my husband and I attended Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday Solemn High Mass at a parish staffed by priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. Nothing can describe it, and the greater part of the congregation were families, where the children were attentive and spiritually and intellectually involved--to say nothing of quiet--and nicely dressed.

What I wouldn't give for the TLM every Sunday and weekday. I almost like low Mass best for its simplicity and silence.

Thank you for your post. If envy were not a serious sin, I would be envious of your having Fr. Z. for celebrant and lecturer. I'm almost green.

Anonymous said...

I can't say enough of how wonderful it is to be able to assist regularly at the TLM!

Re: Our Holy Father. I hope that when his papacy is consecrated to the IHM this coming May 13, that...that...well,that his praxis will undergo a re-orientation.

I just finished scanning an article in which as Cardinal he funded the erection of a Protestant church. As a cleric, his mode of transmitting the faith has been like that of Protestant evangelicals! There is more being shown on Spanish-speaking media than we have not yet seen. It's not good.

I don't know. I place my trust in the Blessed Virgin Mary, but this man who is now our Pope....well, about the best thing I can say, is that I expected worse from the conclave.

Fiat, from Kankakee TLM

Anonymous said...

I wish I could be as confident as Father Z. We were about to reinstall a communion rail in our parish and now the project is “on hold.” Moreover, the bishop has told us that unless we can maintain a steady congregation of 200 or more we can’t have our Traditional Latin Mass on Sunday anymore. Ever since Pope Francis was elected, I see us sliding back into “hootenanny Catholicism.” With Pope Benedict it was clear where we were supposed to be going but now there are too many mixed signals.

susan said...

Anonymous from Kankakee who said...

"I just finished scanning an article in which as Cardinal he funded the erection of a Protestant church"

Could you give a link to this please?...would very much like to read it. Thanks.

Jefe' said...

I have often been perplexed by this fascination with reciting a Latin Mass. Listening to people telling me it's 'more Holy' and the 'power' of the intended words is lost in translation because there are no words to accurately define the True intent.

I think, if I'm actually hearing what is being said, the interest and intense desire for Latin Masses is a result of great encouragement of being surrounded by others who are as devoted to their faith as themselves.

Question- These devote Priest (God bless them); is their Mass any less Holy performed in English? I for one am not aware of how our God, is any less Holy, when He consents to descend upon unleavened bread to nourish our souls. So what is the difference? Is it the words of the Mass? The zeal of the attendees?

I'm only writing, in response to this blog, because I believe it might be fruitful to know that it can be offensive disseminating the reasons of why the Latin Mass is so Holy and English Mass can't be as such. That said, I don't believe any of that has been do here. To understand where I am coming from- I've come into the faith late in life. Listening to people describe, basically what I have learned, is all bunk. It's a little disheartening.

I'm attentive to my faith, but still have plenty of work to be done. At this point none of this really phases me. I'm just trying to get in front of other people from experiencing those feelings as well.

But seriously, is English Mass any less Holy? (Yes, this is a rhetorical question)

TTC said...

With absolute certainty, I am here to tell you that the degree of sanctity with which the Holy Sacrifice is done affects the degree of reception of Grace. This has nothing to do with the properties of Sanctity in Divinity. But the circus clowns around the Sacrifice who are putting on their dog and pony shows around It.

Kinda like the two different experiences of going to a movie with a room full of mature adults and going to a movie with drunks who are swearing, smoking, yelling, and LOL to the point that you cannot hear nor see what is going on.

Louise said...

Your question is difficult to answer because you are asking us to describe mystery, the transcendent, the numinous.

First, the Novus Ordo is valid a valid Mass, with true consecration of the Host. No one is disputing that. It is not a matter of language--although I heard once of a priest who used only Latin when baptizing, because the devil understands Latin. :)

Aside from the reverence that is shown by all at the TLM, it is, in part, a matter of what we are about. Are we about community or is it about worship? Is it about the re-creation, the re-presentation of the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary or is it about a common meal with friends? It is about the elevation of the heart, mind, soul and body or the celebration of ourselves? Holiness or "feel-good-about-ourselves-ness"?

As TTC said earlier, she has to "work at" bringing forth that awareness of worship, and that is my experience exactly. I have never left the church after an N.O. Mass saying to myself, "I don't know what happened up there on the altar, but something did," which was exactly what my husband and I said to each other on leaving our first Latin Mass.

The silence; the priest leading us, not confronting us; no bouncy girl servers; no one running back and forth from the pew to the lectern to read the lesson or carrying up the gifts; God-centered chant, not me-centered songs (not even hymns, and count the number of times that the words "I', "me", "my", "us", "our" are used in the songs you sing. That will tell you who the music is actually celebration.)

These are just a few of the differences. I attend a very devout N.O. every Sunday and during the week. The pastor works very hard to wring every bit of devotion and reverence that he can from that liturgy, but my heart, my mind, my soul has never been lifted into the presence of the Divine as I experience in the TLM.

It's a very inadequate response, but I hope it helps.

Anonymous said...

Well, I will tell you that we never had to deal with all this social justice garbage in the days of the Latin Mass. In the TLM you can just focus on your prayers and you are not being distracted all t his stuff about loving the stranger and the alien or having to shake hands with some person who doesn't even speak our language and probably isn't here leagally anyway. No, I go to the TLM because it is about God and eternity not about you and me and this worldly politics and stuff

Anonymous said...

Susan,

Sorry for a tardy reply. I only just saw your question addressed to me. The article which tells about Cardinal Bergoglio financing a protestant church is in Spanish here:

http://www.diarionorte.com/article/85525/mi-amigo-mi-papa-dice-alejandro-paulino

Fiat from KankakeeTLM

StevenD-Jasper said...

Hi Carol,

Very sorry to hear about Fr. Scanlon, he sounded like a good man/preist.

TTC said...

Thanks Steve. Love to you and yours.