Mitch,
I’ve been in your shoes. I converted to the Catholic Church 10 years ago through the SSPX. At the time, I didn’t know anything about the SSPX or the “excommunications”. It just so happened, that this was the Church where I took my Catechism classes and entered the Church.
When I learned about the “excommunication” and everything else, I began doing more reading on the subject. I thought the best thing for me to do, in order to remain objective, was to stop attending the SSPX while I worked through things in my mind. I thought that separating myself from the SSPX for a while would help me to be more objective. I even started attended the typical scandelous and blasphemous Novus Ordo Mass - not all were scandelous and blasphemous - but many were.
When I was a Protestant looking into the Catholic Church, it took me no time to see that the Catholic Church was the true Church. It was extremely obvious. One thing I saw very when looking into the Catholic Church is that the Protestant arguments were often staw man arguments. For example, they would say “Catholics worship Mary, etc.” The Catholics would respond “no we don’t believe that, this is what we believe”. When looking at both sides, you could see that the Protestants were distorting what the Catholic Church teaches and attacking the distorted teaching. Wtih respect to the Novus Ordo, it was the opposite. This is what I mean…
As a Traditionalist (SSPX), I would always hear “the Novus Ordo does and teaching such and such”. When I started attending the Novus Ordo, I found out that what I had heard was exactly right. They did do and teach those things, but they defended them. In other words, it wasn’t straw man arguments, it was true arguments. They Novus Ordo’s didn’t say “we don;t beleive that”. Instead, they defended it. I can’t remember all of the specifics, but that was one thing that I remember noticing.
I also noticed some of the strange behavior of certain people in the SSPX. There are a lot of very good and even holy people in the SSPX, but you also have your share of strange people. This must be the case with any group.
What should you do? Trust me, if you have been formed in the Traditional Faith, you will be shocked over and over again by what takes place in the Novus Ordo. The faith is under attack. May of the Bishops have lost the faith and * are doing all they can get away* with to destroy the faith. Keep in mind that Faith is a theological virtue, while obedience is a moral virtue. As such, faith is of a much higher level than obedience. Like all moral virtues, obedience is not an absolute - it is a balance point between two extremes: excess and defect. Obedience is only a true virtue when it is properly balanced. A person who obeys when he should not violates the virtue just as the one does who fails to obey when he should. Don’t forget that.
Faith, on the other hand, IS an absolute, and is necessary for salvation. I believe without any doubt at all, that attending the typical Novus Ordo Mass with the typical heretical Priest will endanger your faith. Not only is the lex orandi, lex credendi a problem, but the general lack of reverence and heresies from the pulpet are common.
We live in a difficult day. We all want to obey, but when the faith is being attacked as it is today, we must take precautions.
For myself, I attend diocesean Traditional Masses and the SSPX Mass from time to time. I avoid the Novus Ordo as I would a leprous women. I support Novus Ordo Priests who are beginning to say the Old Mass, but am trying very hard to hold my ground and not be led astray by the Liberalism that has deceived an entire generation of Catholics, Priests, and Bishops.
Read the old encyclicals and learn the errors of liberalism so you can counter them. Avoid the “near occaisions of sin” such as the Novus Ordo Mass with its heretical Priests. Remember, occaisions of sin does not only apply to moral sins, but to sins in the area of faith as well (intellectual sins). That’s why there used to be an index of forbidden books.
Some of my language in this post may sound strong, but I think it fits the situation. I know a good Novus Ordo Priest. I asked him how many Priests in our large Archdiocese have the faith. His answer: 5. Only five Priests in our diocese have the faith. The Church is in a very serious crisis. The devil has been very successful in attacking and destroying the faith. We must take precautions or we too will be in serious danger.
Remember what I said about faith and obedience and study up on it. You will want to keep that in mind while you are discerning.
Also look up an article titled Deception Under the Appearance of Good, by Harold Welitz, and read it. I found it very helpful.
Good luck and God Bless.
How dare they!