Thanks be to the social media, we have become a Church of whiners, not winners. Laity and clergy complain about this, that and the other. What a bunch of babies!In the good old pre-Vatican II days, we were taught that no matter how bad things got in the Church, that we would address the wrongs charitably and where we couldn't change anything, we would bear our sufferings silently. Oh, how I long for those days!
I think the social media generation of Catholics are addicted to their whining and use it as therapy or self medication. Grow up! We need to be like the greatest generation who lived through the Great Depression and World War II and didn't whine about this, that or the other.
The Serenity Prayer can help and many need a big dose of it:
Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
(Although known most widely in its abbreviated form above,
the entire prayer reads as follows...)
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
13 comments:
Had there been a social media during the 60's and 70's I am convinced the "reformers" would not have gotten anywhere near to deforming the liturgy the way they did.
The Internet is a gift from God, to be used wisely. Now the ordinary people have more power to change things for the better and whining is one way. The higher ups do listen to the whining. After all, the liturgy is not a hobby club that can be manipulated in any fashion that suits local tastes. It is worship of God, the source of all Being so He deserves the best that mankind can offer Him back in praise and thanksgiving, which the whiners try to make clear to others.
The liturgy is not a cross to be borne; it is the source and summit of our Christian life. That it is badly celebrated in most places is undeniable; and when this is by design rather than ignorance I do not whine about it - I simply avoid it like the plague.
Personally, I prefer my re-write, LoRd grant me coffee for the things I can change, wine for the things I can't, and the wisdom to know jail is expensive for punching people in the face. Amen
Seeing as a properly celebrated Liturgy is our right, it is not whining. The liturgy should not be an occasion of sin, or a cross to bear for anyone. Which is the state of liturgy in 99% of Roman parishes...if I can't make Divine Liturgy, I find myself at vespers with the Orthodox rather than putting up with bad liturgy.
Whining works. I will continue to.
So, it's Vatican Two...love it or leave it? Is that it?
Your mother may be a whore, but she's still your mother.
Delivery liturgical abuse is blashpmeny and the height of clericalism. Both evil. Evil is never to,be accommodated. We must fight evil and resist it at every turn.
My post isn't about egregious liturgical abuse , but people whining about legitimate celebrations of the OF Mass with options that are allowed to include different styles of music. The whining is about taste as much as it is about change that none of us can control.
I would also call someone who complains about Gregoria's chant, Latin and ad orientem as well as the EF Mass, is just as much a whiner too!
'Your mother may be a whore, but she's still your mother.'
Father, if my mother were a whore, God rest her soul, I would do everything I could to help her not be one.
John Nolan is right in his statement when he says 'The liturgy is not a cross to be borne; it is the source and summit of our Christian life'.
I agree with FrAJM. I have had the good fortune to attend Mass in many different places around the world. Variations in execution became less of an obstacle than lack of vision, sincerity, conviction, and intent.
Victor, amen!
"In the good old pre-Vatican II days, we were taught that no matter how bad things got in the Church, . . ."
Back in those days, I never noticed any bad things in the Church, and never knew anyone who did.
For sure, any thought of the liturgy as a cross to bear would have seemed inconceivable. Every Sunday Mass seemed like a shining jewel (whether or not it actually was).
But now, too many people don't need the internet to remind them of the depths to which Church and Liturgy have sunk, they're slapped in the face with it whenever they satisfy their Sunday obligation.
"I never noticed any bad things in the Church, and never knew anyone who did."
Wow.
Wow, because the statement implies that if you didn't notice bad things, then bad things didn't happen. That's exactly how we got into the pedophile mass of the last 20 years.
What you didn't notice is that pedophiles, ephebophiles, and raging alcoholics were serially reassigned by bishops and religious superiors, inflicting their problems on community after community.
Wow, because you universalize your experience and, in doing so, dismiss/trivialize the experiences of bad things that others did have. You were lucky to live in a bubble, protected from even noticing bad things. Many others were not.
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