I really do not think there is much unrest. Most Catholics I know just kind of go with the flow.
I agree with this.
I think what we’re having trouble with in this time in history is AUTHORITY issues.
In the past, people simply obeyed. Certainly there were occasional rebels (e…g, Martin Luther). But most people simply obeyed because they accepted that God has established certain authorities over them, and that it was their duty to obey and not question the God-established authorities.
Modern people don’t accept authority as readily.
Parents are no longer “authority figures,” but are “guides.”
School teachers struggle to balance “discipline” with “self-esteem issues.”
Clubs of all types have elected Boards and written bylaws, but many club members utterly disregard these people and documents and do as they please.
Criminals defy law enforcement officials, and even “regular people” defy the “cops” and push the limits on laws against speeding, drinking and driving, etc., and argue that they are justifed in doing so because the law is “silly” or “unrealistic.”
Right now there is a 50/50 split in the leadership of our nation (United States), and this is causing many of us to be cynical and doubtful about the qualifications of these men and women to hold the authority positions. It’s very difficult to submit to authority figures that you don’t trust or respect.
And of course, there are huge issues with authority in the Church, and IMO, THAT’S the issue here, not “liturgical unrest,” which is a term that I have never heard before. Where did this term come from, YoungTradCath?
Most Protestants have territorial leaders, but maintain individual freedom to walk away from those authorities without fear of loss of salvation if they believe that the Bible teaches something different. What this means, of course, in practical terms, is that each Protestant is their own authority. I’ve been there (for 47 years), and it’s the main reason why I became Catholic. I no longer wanted to be “in charge,” but I wanted to submit to the authority that I believe Jesus Christ established on this earth–His Holy Catholic Church.
Catholics have a very well-defined system of authority, but many Catholics have taken cues from the Protestants, and insist that they must obey their consciences first, or that they have the right to study the Church documents and draw their own conclusions rather than simply accepting the authority of their priests, bishops, and Pope, and obeying those authorities. This has created a feeling of “unrest” about issues like the liturgy, and about moral issues like contraception. Catholics are unwilling to accept the authority of their bishops, and instead, want to find a way to make their “Church” agree with what they personally want to do.
I think the problem in the U.S. is that we have an inherent distrust of obeying “men and women” and instead, we want to obey written documents.
The problem with that is “Who shall interpret the documents?”
And that’s where we’re running into trouble with the liturgy. Many Catholics feel that THEY as individual Catholics have the “right” to interpret the documents and if their interpretation disagrees with their bishops, they assume that they are right and their bishop is wrong.
I think we need to get back to simply trusting and obeying the Shepherds that the Lord Jesus has placed over us.
