J
JReducation
Guest
The reason that I started this thread and put my experience out there is because I have come to know some lovers of tradition who like me, have felt uncomfortable in what the Internet presents as the “traditionalist community”, which is very different from the real people that you find in your typical parish. I can’t speak for an Ecclesia Dei parish, because I’ve never been to one. The closest has been to an SSPX parish, but my experience there was not positive. That has nothing to do with the laity. It has to do with the way they form their priests.
I’ve only met FSSP priests. I’ve never met the Canons of St. John or the priests from Christ the King. The FSSP priests were delightful and very different from the SSPX priest. You could tell that the formation program was different, not in matters of faith and morals, but in matters of clericalism. The FSSP is not clerical in that sense.
The lay people who attend these parishes and chapels have an environment in which they can share and express their likes and dislikes. I hope they are accepted.
However, the environment on tradition threads or forums can be like sailing a canoe through a hurricane torn ocean. There is a lot of pulling in all directions, because everyone wants to be right and everyone wants to push their idea of what they believe the Church should do or not do.
For some of us, this pushing and tugging is unnerving. My hope is that those who are silent, because they are not in the same place as other lovers of tradition, but are lovers of tradition, will feel that it’s OK to share and that everyone else will see how good it is when brothers and sisters live as one.
I’d like to do this for the people who attend the TLM in a diocesan parish and don’t use the internet. That’s why I was asking about the classes. Until we begin to open the door for all people to speak their mind without fear of being bashed or told that they are wrong in the most rude form possible, we will not get past this hump.
It is becoming very clear that people at the extremes of the spectrum, right and left, seem to feel that rudeness is justified by their cause. That’s not true at all. Christ was never rude.
Before anyone hits me over the head with what he said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, those statements have to be taken in context. Christ was protecting the voiceless from the few religious leaders who wanted to keep them oppressed by instilling fear of God and religion into them. He was not on the attack. He was not trying to protect his position, but real people with feelings. Jesus never apologized for his positions and never defended them. When asked a question, he simply responded. When someone didn’t want to hear, he would go on his way. But when the voiceless were threatened, the then came to their defense. You cannot use religion to control other people. That was his message to them.
We need to do that around hear too. When the extremes jump all over someone, we must be like Christ and come out in the defense of the underdog.
I’ve only met FSSP priests. I’ve never met the Canons of St. John or the priests from Christ the King. The FSSP priests were delightful and very different from the SSPX priest. You could tell that the formation program was different, not in matters of faith and morals, but in matters of clericalism. The FSSP is not clerical in that sense.
The lay people who attend these parishes and chapels have an environment in which they can share and express their likes and dislikes. I hope they are accepted.
However, the environment on tradition threads or forums can be like sailing a canoe through a hurricane torn ocean. There is a lot of pulling in all directions, because everyone wants to be right and everyone wants to push their idea of what they believe the Church should do or not do.
For some of us, this pushing and tugging is unnerving. My hope is that those who are silent, because they are not in the same place as other lovers of tradition, but are lovers of tradition, will feel that it’s OK to share and that everyone else will see how good it is when brothers and sisters live as one.
I’d like to do this for the people who attend the TLM in a diocesan parish and don’t use the internet. That’s why I was asking about the classes. Until we begin to open the door for all people to speak their mind without fear of being bashed or told that they are wrong in the most rude form possible, we will not get past this hump.
It is becoming very clear that people at the extremes of the spectrum, right and left, seem to feel that rudeness is justified by their cause. That’s not true at all. Christ was never rude.
Before anyone hits me over the head with what he said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, those statements have to be taken in context. Christ was protecting the voiceless from the few religious leaders who wanted to keep them oppressed by instilling fear of God and religion into them. He was not on the attack. He was not trying to protect his position, but real people with feelings. Jesus never apologized for his positions and never defended them. When asked a question, he simply responded. When someone didn’t want to hear, he would go on his way. But when the voiceless were threatened, the then came to their defense. You cannot use religion to control other people. That was his message to them.
We need to do that around hear too. When the extremes jump all over someone, we must be like Christ and come out in the defense of the underdog.
) are authentic, awe-inspiring, and communicate that sense of the sacred that many in the Church long for. I hope that you will indeed get a chance to attend a live liturgy. Adoration & Benediction are also done beautifully. I’m sure you would appreciate them and be blessed by attending.
