If The SSPX Were Declared In Full Communion Tomorrow

[wisdomseeker]

I think that the Latin classes are a sign of good things to come. As for allowing the SSPX to continue to celebrate the EF, I don’t forsee any problems with that as long as they also promote the OF. This is where some groups get into trouble. They downplay the OF as lesser than the EF. That is in conflict with Summorum Pontificum which refers to both forms as one Latin Rite and equally holy and venerable.

I’m not sure about the FSSP, but I know that the Canons of St. John Cantius and the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word celebrate both forms. Of course there is a difference between them. The Caons and the Franciscans are religious, while the FSSP and the SSPX are not. Religious have to follow the constitutions. In the Franciscan constitutions you may not celebrate the EF exclusively, but only with the permission of the superior of the house at a time, day and place approved by him. I believe that the Canons have a similar ruling regarding the OF. I also heard, but cannot confirm, that the Institute of Christ the King also celebrates the OF in Latin.

My point is that if the issue boils down to the form of the Latin Rite, there are different arrangements that can prove suitable to all parties and beneficial for the Church. I don’t see the celebration of the mass an obstacle for the future. The piety of the SSPX is certainly most welcome and necessary.

As a religious and a superior, my great concern is always with the laity. The laity becomes very attached to certain ways and when Rome or other Church authorities tries to change it or reign it in, they tend to forget that the bond is not between the laity and the community (i.e. Franciscan, SSPX, Canons, Dominicans, etc), but between the faithful and the bishops and the pope. The rest of us in the middle are just that, middle men. We don’t want people to refuse the hierarchy becaues of their attachment to us and our way of doing things. We’re not the Church. We lead to the Church, big difference.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

brother i tell you. things are very confusion. how can we stay divided between two different Liturgies? this is a designing for disaster. we need to stop and reflect on what is really going on. since the Liturgy has become more a like a Protestant service than a Catholic Worship, how can the holy father make the SSPX promote such a thing? even the holy father himself has criticized the new Mass. why in the world he insists in such a thing? it just seems that no one in leardership cares about what is going on in the CC.

they just sit there in silent. we hear nothing from them. no one seems to want address the issues. in the meanwhile Catholics are getting angry and discourage with the Church. people get together and talk about it but everyone seems to be paralyzed by fear of one another.

here is a man that i saw last night on journey home at EWTN. this family is fighting to bring the Sacred back into the Church. raymonddesouza.com/

he says like it is. i wish more like him would come forward. he described how the Brasilian Catholics are being paganized while the bishops stand silent. how the beautifull Churches were destroyed. do you see where i am going with this? once the Worship was messed with, things just went down hill. and as we insist on this, things are not going to get any better.

 

[pnewton]

brother i tell you. things are very confusion. how can we stay divided between two different Liturgies?

Simple. Identical liturgy is not what unifies Catholics. If it was, we wouldn’t have the different Rites of the Church. We are unified with Eastern Catholics, Maronite Catholics, etc.

 

[JReducation]

brother i tell you. things are very confusion. how can we stay divided between two different Liturgies? this is a designing for disaster. we need to stop and reflect on what is really going on. since the Liturgy has become more a like a Protestant service than a Catholic Worship, how can the holy father make the SSPX promote such a thing? even the holy father himself has criticized the new Mass. why in the world he insists in such a thing? it just seems that no one in leardership cares about what is going on in the CC.

Let’s be careful here. When he was Cardinal Ratzinger, he critiqued the manner in which the new form of the liturgy was put together. He also ciritqued the liberties that people took with the new form. He never denied the holiness of the Ordinary Form. He repeats this in Summorum Pontificum. He explicitly refers to the Ordinary Form as being holy and necessary for the Church. If you observe, when the ordinary form is celebrated appropriately, it is very beautiful. There is always a matter of taste. Some may find the Extraordinary Form more beautiful and that’s ok too. This is not a competition about which form is more beautiful. The issue is that both forms are the same Latin Rite liturgy. They both enjoy the place of primacy in the Latin Church. The Novus Ordo is to be the normal way that we celebrate liturgy in the Latin Rite Church, at least until another pope comes along and changes that.

If you look at the liturgy from a purely external appearance, you may feel that it is too similar to a Protestant service. But looking at it more carefully, it is far from it. There are several key elements that make it completely different.

1. It is a sacrament.
2. It is precided by an ordained minister with apostolic succession.
3. The Gospel is proclaimed and preach by an ordained minister with the authority to preach
4. The community is joined to the apostolic community through sacrament and tradition.
5. Every gesture is rooted in the Judeo-Catholic tradition.
6. It is the true celebration of the both the Last Supper and the sacrifice of Calvary, not a memorial
7. Transubstantiation is real
8. The table is a real altar of sacrifice. It is the cross itself where the unblemished lamd is sacrificed.
9. It mediates grace and salvation.
10. The priest is persona Christ and the deacon is the delegate of the bishop.

None of these elements are present in a Protestant service.

they just sit there in silent. we hear nothing from them. no one seems to want address the issues. in the meanwhile Catholics are getting angry and discourage with the Church. people get together and talk about it but everyone seems to be paralyzed by fear of one another.

I understand the frustration of many Catholics. But I also believe that too many Catholics are not working on cultivating the contemplative life. When you spend so much energy on the negatives, you become discouraged and you fall into the pits of anger. This is where the saints are good meditations for modern Catholics. They managed to keep their inner peace despite the circumstances around them.

here is a man that i saw last night on journey home at EWTN. this family is fighting to bring the Sacred back into the Church. raymonddesouza.com/

I saw him too He’s very impressive.

he says like it is. i wish more like him would come forward. he described how the Brasilian Catholics are being paganized while the bishops stand silent. how the beautifull Churches were destroyed. do you see where i am going with this? once the Worship was messed with, things just went down hill. and as we insist on this, things are not going to get any better.

I’ll share my special thought with you. Nothing out of this world. GOD IS GOOD.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF