Pope Francis has been the pope of dialogue, except of course, when he isn’t and that dialogue with traditionalists and those concerned about the direction in which His Holiness is leading the Church is being shut-down by His Holiness himself. A bit of a paradox, no?
But, at face value, dialogue when it is mutual and respectful is a good thing and it is needed more than ever between orthodox Catholics who are on either side of tradition, the old way and the new way, especially liturgically.
As everyone knows, I love both forms of the Mass and think that both forms can co-exist in the same parish as long as the pastor loves both forms of the Mass and tries to keep harmony and unity amongst those in the same parish who love either/or or both/and.
One of the problems I see with those who love the TLM exclusively is that their apologetic is based upon denigrating the Modern Roman Missal even when it is celebrated with dignity, reverence, awe and wonder. That is very unfortunate and does not in any way promote the more liberal use of the TLM in the Church.
The same happens with those who love a well celebrated Modern Roman Missal Mass. They dig up abuses that occurred prior to Vatican II to justify why the new and “improved” Mass is so much better. That does nothing to promote unity in the Church, correct?
Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky recently said this about the Modern Mass:
Catholics across the globe have become more familiar with the word of God in sacred Scripture, have cherished "full, conscious and active participation" in the liturgy, have slowly recognized a need to be evangelizers, have appreciated the importance of a well-formed conscience, have engaged in deep dialogue with fellow Christians and other religious traditions, have rediscovered baptism as the foundational sacrament and enjoyed many other gifts that resulted from the council.
Each of these developments, from the restoration of the ancient kiss of peace in the Mass to elevated role of the laity, can be a doorway to renewing the priority of working for peace in the mission of the church.
My final comments: What Bishop Stowe says is true about the post-Vatican II Mass but for only a very small percentage of those who actually attend the Modern Roman Missal Mass. If Bishop Stowe actually quoted some polls and statistics concerning the modern Mass he would know that for a number of reasons, the good things he gushes about are not evenly distributed throughout the Modern Roman Mass Communities.
That only 10% of Catholics bother to attend any type of Mass should be a major heartburn for Bishop Stowe and other bishops to include the Bishop of Rome. And that of the 10% who do attend Mass, more than half don’t believe what the Church teaches about the Mass, about Holy Communion or about anything what the Church teaches, believes and proclaims to be revealed by God.
I would dare say, based upon statistical evidence, that the small minority who attend the TLM exclusively, that 100% of those Catholics embrace without confusion what the Church believes, teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God. That is important to point out and ask why this is so and what is it about Traditionalist communities and their evangelization efforts that is so good and ontologically effective?
3 comments:
Bishop Stowe is rather glossing over the fact that mainly the modern Mass as generally celebrated has led to the discovery by attendees that the folk running things really have no answers, and so people have left and are leaving in droves.
Of course, given his embracing of doctrinal changes such as pro-gay stance, he shows he knows the desperation of trying to keep collections up, and this is all about trying to bring in unrepentant sinners to replace people trying to live the Faith....strictly looking for new markets. Just as one would expect from just another phony who really doesn't believe it's true.
While I agree with Stowe in principal, the tone sounds very political.
While the focus on participation, even if misdirected, and the focus on evangelization are laudable, the kiss of peace was reintroduced in a way that to me, makes it an empty/symbolic gesture of man which is then shared with man. It does not originate from the holy table, or the bishop who enjoys the fullness of the priesthood with apostolic succession. Though elevated in many places such that it seems to have become a pseudo 8th sacrament, such a gesture will not hold the flock together, particularly where believe in the true presence has plummeted and membership is hemorrhaging the younger generations whose children will ultimately inherit nothing in particular.
Bishop Stowe is absolutely correct. Of course, one must understand that he is speaking of the world as it exits inside his head; not the one the rest of us live in. He can invent his own reality and speak of it in glowing terms and most Catholics (and media sites) will never question it.
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