Msgr. Pope, and the now mainline National Catholic Register, jumped the shark with last week’s attack on the Ancient Mass. Isn’t it too soon to pretend that the new FrancisChurch of Mercy is ‘revitalizing’ the faith and making it ‘vibrant’? Unless they were paid for it, few people have been silly enough to sashay through these stupid doors they’re flinging open everywhere. So, cue the Register: time to attack the pitiful ‘closed-in’ group of pharisees they occasionally permit to commute to a faithful Mass.
It’s not that the ancient Mass is bad, it’s just that the people are so lazy about evangelizing! When are they going to do that FrancisJazz? Do they even have MercyDoors?
It’s really so sad and discouraging to see these brilliant men, who’ve given their lives to Christ, play the miserable fall guy in this NuChurch of ugly.
Evangelization matters. Effectively handing on the faith to the next generation matters. Attending Mass regularly and supporting the work of the Church matters. Vocations matter. Sacrificially offering our time, talent, and treasure matters. These truths matter throughout the Church and in every different setting.
You know what else matters? Faith. Faith matters. The only thing driving the FrancisChurch hierarchy is money – government money, powerful money, UN money, but not faith. The kind of ‘evangelizing’ that Monsignor is talking about requires well-placed speakers, television screens, professional groomers, and loud empty-headed sentimental preening. You have to pay for that kind of thing (nobody is going to cough up their contributions) and they have plenty of money for that. They have plenty of destroyer money.
The point of FrancisChurch is to crush Catholicism and turn it into some government department of ‘love’. Why did Cardinal Dolan decide to sell-off half the churches in Manhattan before Francis even got his mercy going? Because he, and Mayor de Blasio, and Obama are implementing the plan. Not to sound conspiratorial, but all things happen according to a plan, and people who rule over you have one. It’s not about dying parishes and lazy Catholics. It’s about no Catholics and no parishes.
Those mostly elderly, who are stalwart enough to continue to attend the Paul VI Mass despite the fact it was designed to repulse Catholics, need to be handled. Now is the time. They can’t go to Mass if there are no churches.
Why are there no priests in FrancisChurch? Because they don’t want any, and can you imagine giving your lives and obedience to men like these bishops and their boys? Honestly?
One of our parishes generously offers a Solemn High Mass once a month on Sunday afternoon, a Mass that I myself have celebrated for over 25 years. But we have gone from seeing the church almost full, to two-thirds full, to now only about one-third full.
Explanations abound among the traditional Catholics I speak to about the lack of growth in attendance at the Traditional Latin Mass. Some say that it is because more options are now available. But one of the promises was that if parishes would just offer the Traditional Latin Mass each parish would be filled again. Others say there are parking issues, or that the Mass times are not convenient, or that the Masses are too far away. But these things were all true 20 years ago when the Solemn Mass was thriving.
Every other Sunday my family drives thirty miles to the Latin Mass at 2pm. I hate going to Church at 2pm on Sunday. Everyone does. But I have no choice. My local pastor says almost all the weekend Masses and he’s a twisted ball of liberal self-loathing. His Mass is nothing like Catholic. It’s just third-rate entertainment with an evil message. I HAVE to drive to the Latin Mass, but I don’t WANT to.
Holy Mass is not supposed to be something you want to do. It’s something you must do for the love of God and the good of your soul. If they don’t offer it anywhere, and tell people to go for Heaven’s sake, of course it won’t grow.
Everyone at the Latin Mass I attend is in the same boat. Our problem is that we’re Catholic. It’s a beautiful Mass. It’s like Heaven not Hell, and from what I see attendance is growing and growing, but not for long I’m sure. As the FrancisChurch noose tightens, men like Msgr. Pope, who seem to have spent years repelling faithful Mass-goers, will rise to the occasion and swing a hammer at them yet again.
If only all the Latin Mass churches could just conveniently burn down like they do in Blase Cupich’s Chicago!
The mercy door is the door of the tabernacle.
When that door opens, every knee bends.
(Unless kneeling is forbidden by the ordinary of the diocese.)
Catholic churches do not need “greeters” —
a superfluous distraction from the Divine “Greeter.”
For music we listen for God’s song in our hearts.
In the mass, we offer ourselves to our Creator, not our neighbor.
Our Creator empties Himself for us in love beyond comprehension,
on ongoing sacrifice, a mystery and miracle, not a happy meal.
Great post.