Last week was Pizza Sunday at my parish, and I ended up sitting with the
priest whom I mentioned a while back as the one who thought everything was a
disaster in the past but now everything is better. I imagine he and I would
disagree on almost everything, except for two things: first, against all odds,
he likes chant, when I would have thought he would have been leading the charge
to stop me from singing it; and second, he has great devotion to Mary. It was he who asked if I could sing Arcadelt's Ave Maria at a future Mass. He and I probably
will always disagree on virtually everything, yet I also believe a man who is
devoted to our Blessed Mother can't be all bad. I'll learn the piece.
2 comments:
How can a priest be devoted to Mary and not her Son? To say that things are better now that the One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church has been torn asunder by those who erroneously thought they had the right to do so in order to bring it up-to-date is ludicrous. They have wilfully turned their back against Christ whose Church it is and who instituted it on St. Peter & the Apostles. He did not give them (or their successors) any authority to change His Commandments, Sacraments etc. but instructed them to go and teach all nations what He had taught them. Instead, since Vatican II, the successors to the Apostles have caused so much destruction to the Church of Christ on earth that it is hardly recognisable. Our Liturgy of Ages gone, our communion rails & confessionals gone, the sacraments given a different meaning, i.e. repentance not necessary for mercy & Holy Communion just a nod to the Last Supper but certainly not actually Our Saviour in the consecrated host. They have even stopped evangelising, PF saying there is no need, there is no Catholic God & we can all go to Heaven (even Atheists) by good deeds, bringing down Christ's Church to the same level as Paganism. This priest and his associates need to catch on to themselves and get back to basics. Christ was Crucified for our sins - don't
re-crucify Him for the retribution will definitely be unmerciful.
You have written much here, and I agree with most of it. There is only one thing I want to comment on here at this time: you missed my point. I said in this post that, while I and this priest disagree over much, there are at least two points upon which we do agree. Further, I am happy that we do have some point of agreement, however small. If I read your comment aright, you would have me disregard those points. I won't, for the reason CS Lewis outlines here:
"Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out. Is one's first feeling, 'Thank God, even they aren't quite so bad as that,' or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible? If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally we shall insist on seeing everything -- God and our friends and ourselves included -- as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.”
The only place that I have found that praises the thorough demonization of our enemies, that recommends refusing to acknowledge any good whatsoever in those whom we oppose, is in Saul Alinsky's rules for radicals. It allows us to hate the enemy thoroughly and ultimately deny their humanity if necessary. Alinsky, I should note, dedicated his book to Lucifer, and such a tactic is worthy of Hell.
I am happy that the Tradition retained some foothold in this priest, however small. Whether or not you share in this feeling is ultimately your concern. But I would be careful with the impulse to deny that there is any goodness at all in those whom you oppose.
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