Addicted to Wreckage
It's official, folks. I really and truly do not care what is happening in the Novus Ordo Establishment anymore. I don't care which bishop is denying the historicity of the Gospels this week; I don't care which cardinal said this month that the Jews don't need to convert; I don't care which parish in what city is having polka Mass this Sunday.
I know there's a global-scale crisis in the Church right now - I don't need to hear any more of the details. I know them all already, by heart. And I know the standard defense for what we Traditionalists do - I can quote the last paragraph of Quo Primum by heart; I know exactly what paragraph of Mortalium Animos condemns modern ecumenism as a departure from and rejection of the true religion; I've seen all the Assisi pictures, and I know what verses in Scripture condemn inter-religious worship.
Deal Hudson of Crisis Magazine has just been caught with his pants down, so to speak; I don't care. That information isn't going to help me save my soul. That juicy little tidbit isn't going to do anything for my meditation and prayer life, except perhaps to cripple it by introducing unwanted images of Mr. Hudson's and Ms. Poppas' violation of the sixth and ninth commandments into my mental theatre.
It's gossip. Nothing more.
But for some reason, more and more Traditionalists are flocking to this sort of wreckage. We keep our ears to the ground, we scan the neo-Catholic magazines, we watch the Zenit headlines - what will the next scandal be? Will we be the first to find out about it, so we can be the ones to tell our fellow parishioners and watch them recoil in horror?
I actually had a parishioner come up to me last week and say, "Did you hear about that thing going on at St. Joseph's with the Ravi Shankar? What do you think about that?" I stared blankly for a few moments before saying, "It's horrible." What was I expected to say?! I was very, very tempted to say, "Oh, I think it's just fantastic! It's about time we started recognizing the value of listening to religious leaders from other faith traditions."
I need to go deeper than this. We're starving here, we exiles and refugees from Protestantism and/or the Novus Ordo, and the menu options are 1) "How Evil is the Indult Mass," 2) "The ADL vs. Mel Gibson, part XXXVIII," 3) "Why the New Rosary is Bad," and 4) "Is the SSPX in Schism? An Exhaustive Analysis of All Relevant Magisterial Documents."
Yes, yes, yes, all of that ... but in addition to that, how do I learn to pray better? And now that I've found the Traditional Mass, how do I extract the riches of this Mass and its symbolism - how I do I truly pray the Mass? I've done the Traditional thing and thrown out my radio and TV - what do I fill up the empty space with, and what are some Traditional family activities that would be beneficial for my home?
I guess that's what it comes down to, really. Traditional Catholicism, as it is dressed up in the "store-front" of various Traditional newspapers, books, magazines, web sites, tapes, lectures, etc., is very good at identifying what we shouldn't be doing, what things we should be getting rid of in our lives (whether objects, like TV, rock music, etc., or ideas, such as NFP, Americanism, etc.) - but rarely does it tell us what to do with these new holes in our lives.
You must avoid all of these things - that part I understand. But now that has become my life! Looking out for things to avoid; taking a critical (and even cynical) approach to everything; replacing the bad somethings in my life with idle nothings. And frankly, I'm bored. And I'm not getting any holier.
Catholicism used to be on the cutting edge of originality - leading the way in producing the brightest thinkers, the most brilliant theologians, the most talented artists, the best musicians, the best-read historians, inspired poets, and on and on ... but it seems to me now that we've become largely unoriginal and boring - reactionary even.
Where would we be without the crisis to depend upon? What would happen to our periodicals, newspapers, web sites, and touring speakers? Will they vanish when the crisis goes away? They wouldn't, if they were occupied with writing and speaking about the substance of the faith, as opposed to writing and speaking about the horrible absence of the faith.
If I have to sit back and wait for something awful to happen at Crisis, for a scandalous statement from a bishop, for a controversial book to emerge from the neo-Catholic press - I say if I have to wait for these movements from the "enemy" before I find that I have anything to say or write about, then something is wrong. Protestantism is negative and reactionary - they are the ones who define themselves by what they are against - this should not be a character trait of Traditional Catholicism!
You'll notice I haven't added any new articles to my site in quite a while. I'm out of things to say - that's the long and short of it. I've already told you how bad the Novus Ordo Mass is, and I've told you from several different viewpoints. I've disagreed with the pope on a few points, and I've taken a few neo-Catholic apologists to task. What more can I say?
I'm tired - it's tough work playing "lookout man" and watching the neo-Catholic horizon for any movement. So I'm reevaluating a few things. What do I really want to read about and study in my spare time? What do I really want to write about? I want to learn more about Catholic devotion; I want to learn more about Our Lady; I want to learn more about how Catholic theologians and Church Fathers read Scripture.
In short, I want to study, read, and regurgitate through writing how to be a good Catholic, as opposed to how to not be a neo-Catholic.
Let's start dealing with the universal and eternal, things that will be relevant long after the crisis has ended, and stop worrying so much about the temporal stuff that's going to be ancient history just as soon as Russia gets consecrated.
Oh, and .... someone say a prayer for Mr. Hudson, please.
I know there's a global-scale crisis in the Church right now - I don't need to hear any more of the details. I know them all already, by heart. And I know the standard defense for what we Traditionalists do - I can quote the last paragraph of Quo Primum by heart; I know exactly what paragraph of Mortalium Animos condemns modern ecumenism as a departure from and rejection of the true religion; I've seen all the Assisi pictures, and I know what verses in Scripture condemn inter-religious worship.
Deal Hudson of Crisis Magazine has just been caught with his pants down, so to speak; I don't care. That information isn't going to help me save my soul. That juicy little tidbit isn't going to do anything for my meditation and prayer life, except perhaps to cripple it by introducing unwanted images of Mr. Hudson's and Ms. Poppas' violation of the sixth and ninth commandments into my mental theatre.
It's gossip. Nothing more.
But for some reason, more and more Traditionalists are flocking to this sort of wreckage. We keep our ears to the ground, we scan the neo-Catholic magazines, we watch the Zenit headlines - what will the next scandal be? Will we be the first to find out about it, so we can be the ones to tell our fellow parishioners and watch them recoil in horror?
I actually had a parishioner come up to me last week and say, "Did you hear about that thing going on at St. Joseph's with the Ravi Shankar? What do you think about that?" I stared blankly for a few moments before saying, "It's horrible." What was I expected to say?! I was very, very tempted to say, "Oh, I think it's just fantastic! It's about time we started recognizing the value of listening to religious leaders from other faith traditions."
I need to go deeper than this. We're starving here, we exiles and refugees from Protestantism and/or the Novus Ordo, and the menu options are 1) "How Evil is the Indult Mass," 2) "The ADL vs. Mel Gibson, part XXXVIII," 3) "Why the New Rosary is Bad," and 4) "Is the SSPX in Schism? An Exhaustive Analysis of All Relevant Magisterial Documents."
Yes, yes, yes, all of that ... but in addition to that, how do I learn to pray better? And now that I've found the Traditional Mass, how do I extract the riches of this Mass and its symbolism - how I do I truly pray the Mass? I've done the Traditional thing and thrown out my radio and TV - what do I fill up the empty space with, and what are some Traditional family activities that would be beneficial for my home?
I guess that's what it comes down to, really. Traditional Catholicism, as it is dressed up in the "store-front" of various Traditional newspapers, books, magazines, web sites, tapes, lectures, etc., is very good at identifying what we shouldn't be doing, what things we should be getting rid of in our lives (whether objects, like TV, rock music, etc., or ideas, such as NFP, Americanism, etc.) - but rarely does it tell us what to do with these new holes in our lives.
You must avoid all of these things - that part I understand. But now that has become my life! Looking out for things to avoid; taking a critical (and even cynical) approach to everything; replacing the bad somethings in my life with idle nothings. And frankly, I'm bored. And I'm not getting any holier.
Catholicism used to be on the cutting edge of originality - leading the way in producing the brightest thinkers, the most brilliant theologians, the most talented artists, the best musicians, the best-read historians, inspired poets, and on and on ... but it seems to me now that we've become largely unoriginal and boring - reactionary even.
Where would we be without the crisis to depend upon? What would happen to our periodicals, newspapers, web sites, and touring speakers? Will they vanish when the crisis goes away? They wouldn't, if they were occupied with writing and speaking about the substance of the faith, as opposed to writing and speaking about the horrible absence of the faith.
If I have to sit back and wait for something awful to happen at Crisis, for a scandalous statement from a bishop, for a controversial book to emerge from the neo-Catholic press - I say if I have to wait for these movements from the "enemy" before I find that I have anything to say or write about, then something is wrong. Protestantism is negative and reactionary - they are the ones who define themselves by what they are against - this should not be a character trait of Traditional Catholicism!
You'll notice I haven't added any new articles to my site in quite a while. I'm out of things to say - that's the long and short of it. I've already told you how bad the Novus Ordo Mass is, and I've told you from several different viewpoints. I've disagreed with the pope on a few points, and I've taken a few neo-Catholic apologists to task. What more can I say?
I'm tired - it's tough work playing "lookout man" and watching the neo-Catholic horizon for any movement. So I'm reevaluating a few things. What do I really want to read about and study in my spare time? What do I really want to write about? I want to learn more about Catholic devotion; I want to learn more about Our Lady; I want to learn more about how Catholic theologians and Church Fathers read Scripture.
In short, I want to study, read, and regurgitate through writing how to be a good Catholic, as opposed to how to not be a neo-Catholic.
Let's start dealing with the universal and eternal, things that will be relevant long after the crisis has ended, and stop worrying so much about the temporal stuff that's going to be ancient history just as soon as Russia gets consecrated.
Oh, and .... someone say a prayer for Mr. Hudson, please.
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