Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King
Thou art the King of Glory, O Lord Jesus Christ; when Thou didst take upon Thee to deliver man, Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's Womb

Sunday, February 12, 2012

SSPX (unofficial) Antipathy, Rad Trads Gone Mad

Read the first couple pages of this forum post in Fisheaters Traditional Catholic Forum:

http://catholicforum.fisheaters.com/index.php/topic,3448658.0.html

This is why I have such a hard time with many of those who attend the Traditional Latin Mass (Extraordinary Form) especially those who go to SSPX chapels.  Had to make the distinction before someone jumps on me and says that I hate all traditionalists and adherents of the Society of St. Pius X(SSPX).

One of the posters there (my favorite poster actually) expressed something that she appreciated about the SSPX which she normally criticizes for their harsh, scathing words especially when they insult the Holy Father (Pope Benedict XVI) or accuse the Novus Ordo (NO..Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite or New Mass) and its Sacraments as being invalid, heretical, fake, etc.  In response to the kind remark she made about the SSPX, another poster immediately shot her comment down by making a derogatory and blasphematory statement about Our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament.  She even explained that she was also making that statement of apprecition to kinda cool the air and be more charitable to the SSPX adherents.

The conversation spun out into the usual:  a battle between the SSPX and the in-communion-with-Rome trads going back and forth with the typical name-calling (The NO religion is false and not Catholic, you're not with the Church because you insult the Pope, the NO is to blame for your husband's loss of fatih, etc).  This woman is struggling with the fact that her husband, her spouse, is possibly losing the faith because of the cruel remarks of some SSPX adherents and other die-hard traditionalist Catholics because they're making him feel like he's just "worshipping bread and wine and not Christ's true Body and Blood." 

The Sacraments are Sacraments, they always confer Sanctifying Grace (or increase it) in the soul when they're received worthily and through them we receive the mercy and Grace that our Lord gave by His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.  They are not dependent upon the orthodoxy or lack thereof of the priest or bishop administering them, but on the matter (tangible things required), form (proper words used in their administration/reception), and intent (the Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and intangible things/dispositions required). 

What is wrong with our Church?  There are all these factions and camps and not enough unity and agreement.  And all the name-calling, are we really in 2nd grade??  (I feel like I just insulted second graders even...).  Radical traditionalists, neo-con bullies, cafeteria Catholics, liberal Catholics, FSSP/ICKSP traditional Catholics, SSPX traditional Catholics, NOers, etc... 

This labeling is getting tired and is making us look bad to non-Catholics, we can't even agree on our own religion, we're looking just as bad as Protestants (although they aren't really pointing fingers at each other...which is funny because they all teach different things, but it's okay for others to have heterodox faith and be saved, but Roman Catholics are damned by virtue of the fact that we identify as such...okay).

I mean, it's not even admonishing a sinner, but just being cruel, impatient, and irritable.  Yes, it is tiring to have to deal with how most people have such a flawed and distorted view of Catholicism that it's like they aren't even practicing the same religion (I'm guilty of this myself; usually I shiver when someone tells me they're Catholic anymore because I am immediately thinking how well do they know our doctrines). 

But it does bother me that SSPX adherents have this "If they want to be saved, they'll come to us" attitude and are not concerned at pushing others away.  In a way, they're right, you don't adjust the Truth just to get a butt in a seat (bishops take heed), but you don't want to insult someone away and give them a bad taste in their mouths either.  Be a good witness, and know that people have feelings too.

On the contrary, people in the Ordinary Form and non-traditional camp need to stop acting like anything goes.  This also sickens me.  Right and wrong do exist.  Truth is important, lies need to be banished.  Educate yourselves and stop doing everything based on what feels right and good and please, PLEASE, stop being passive spectators at Mass like you're watching a concert.  I love how the "Spirit of Vatican II" crowd loooves to harp participatio actuosa *cough* I mean, "active participation" down everyone's throats, but those that assist at the Extraordinary Form seem to be more actively participating where it really counts (the heart) than those at the Ordinary Form, and also most people don't jet out of the church so quickly like they're gasping for fresh air after Mass.

Most of the stupid and ridiculous comments came from trad guys that wanted to argue the NO matter, but most of them didn't say but a couple words about the spiritual distress she and her husband were going through (which she felt was because of them). 

Help those who are in error to try to find and see the Truth, do not just post all these templated phrases and impulsive responses to things (that gets old and you sound like a machine) because we are our brother's keepers (Book of Genesis IV, 9).

This is just really disgusting and I've noticed that I get a lot of criticism too for feeling "left out" or "forgotten" or whatever, but I'm trying lately to just realize that you can't count on ANYONE but God and His Promises because man is feeble, fickle, and are msot likely just as lost as anyone else, but we can also count on the CHURCH because God established it to protect us, the faithful, and guide us always.

2 comments:

  1. Chris, these people are suffering from what Blessed Fr. Seraphim Rose referred to as "Super-correct disease." He had struggles with similarly-minded people within his jurisdiction. Here is the chapter in his biography about this struggle, you may find some comfort in it: http://orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/fsr_63.aspx

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    1. Wow, that was intense reading. I thought that the extremism and factions and basically everying St. Paul was screaming at the Corinthians about in the first chapter of his first Episle was only plaguing the Catholic Church and some Protestant groups. The Orthodox all seem so peaceful and understanding (well...you know some people that I've met who've made me want to pull the little hair I have out lol, but I figured that he was the exception lol). The SSPX definitely can be very self-righteous (and with good intentions I'm hoping), but it is turning people away from traditional Catholicism and keeping them either stuck in "Spirit-of-Vatican-II-Land" or making them leave the Church altogether. Any extremist rad trad groups in the Orthodox Church that you know of that may even be in bizarre canonical situations? It'd be interesting reading.

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