Modern inventions did what? I was there in the 1950s. We were taught to pray as kids at home. My mother had a beautiful rosary and we observed all the traditions. The TV and the radio were totally optional. God came first. We said grace before meals.
We had a list of to do’s outside of Mass. Honor thy father and they mother. Being Catholic meant faith without works is dead. Practices and traditions meant a lot. Those who abandoned them gradually abandoned other things. That’s why I had my TV thrown out and my car radio is set to Catholic Radio only. That’s all it’s good for.
We are a religion of practices. It has always been that way.
Peace,
Ed
Dear Ed,
Cordial greetings and a very good day. Bang on target - jolly well said.
Whilst it is certainly true that we must be cautious about looking back to the past with rose-tinted spectacles (cf. Ecclesiastes 7: 10), it is equally true that we should not be blindly sanguine respecting the present age, especially given the undeniable moral and cultural deterioration that has occurred since the permissive revolution of the Sixties.
It is very sad, dear brother, that whenever a man appeals to more God-fearing times, when the pervasive influence of the Christian consciousness held sway, he is invariably accused of crying up the goodness of former times, whilst choosing to close his eyes to some of its less desirable features. This is, of course, seldom the case and most reasonable men will freely admit that all ages have been imperfect in some respects. Nevertheless, it is a fact that prior to the permissive revolution and the consequent diminuition of the Christian consciousness, men generally did walk in the good way and did not transgress the boundaries of good taste and decency. Incontrovertably, there was not the deplorably bad coarsening of manners, the shameful acceptance of unnatural homosexual vice and the spurious egalitarian ideology that strives to blur the God-given distinctions between men and women - all sad features of own age. Moreover, gone now is gentlemanly behaviour, such as opening a door for a lady or offering her your seat on a crowded bus or train, because she is the ‘weaker sex’ and thus deserving of such special consideration. Times have certainly changed alright, but not, I fear, for the better. Again, film and television in the decades prior to Sixties was, for the most part, wholesome fare and even reinforced the moral virtues. Today film/television makers are ever seeking to push the envelope, so as to keep pace with the increasingly debased tastes of our times. For example, I am given to understand that the new series of our own
Downtown Abbey will be ‘spiced up’ a little, but why on earth is there a need to do this?
Perhaps, dear brother, we need to covet again the undoubted goodness of former times and lament its passing much more than we are wont to do. Each day I fear for our youth because the Sixties avante garde people have discarded the good traditions that were informed by a healthy Christian consciousness. Whilst they may not have been infallible magisterial declarations they did, notwithstanding, foster a more Christian and civil society. What is so very sad is that there is a depreciation of almost any and all tradition nowadays. If something is old then it must necessarily be suspect or worthless, such is the reasoning of modern man, not excluding some Catholics (even those who identify as theologically ‘conservative’).
Look here, the old order that made both Great Britian and America a living force is scorned and held up to derision by modern man and pundits of all sorts. However, dear brother, what, I ask, have they got that is truly noble and worthy to replace it? Your politicians and radical types talk vociferously about freedom of choice and being liberated from outmoded ideas, but men will not remain free for long unless they are ready to fight and future generations will be useless at fighting unless they know something of *proper *discipline - the habit of obedience; how to give orders and how to take them. Alas, today we are witnessing rank insubordination by
all classes of society, especially by the youth who think it jolly clever to challenge the wisdom of parents and old traditions that have stood the test of time. This rebellion does not, I say, bode well for the future and must be denounced in the strongest terms, nipped in the bud before it reaps a bitter harvest, if it has not already done so.
We Catholics, dear brother, must set a worthy example, especially to our youth, and be true to honour, duty, moderation and decency. Let us ignore the cheap smears of the cynics - even the Catholic ones. Who can honestly deny that we still need, perhaps more than ever, loyalty, the great noble traditions of the past and most certainly a manly Catholic faith that values and holds dear the extrinsic tradition of Holy Mother Church
throughout the ages. If we look around us today what do we see? Violence, confusion, vulgarity and increasing moral and cultural deterioration. Let us not arrogantly refuse to consult the true standard of antiquity, simply because we fear that it will not sit comfortably with our compromised and relativistic standpoint. Whilst it is perfectly true that a man cannot be guided soley by antiquity, surely only a complete fool would reject long usage and the good old tried and trusted ways of past times. My plea is that we humble ourselves and not fear to enquire of a former age, for we might just learn of the true way of godliness and righteousness, which has always been the way that God has owned and blessed and in which men have always prospered (Jer. 6: 16).
God bless.
Warmest good wishes,
Portrait
Pax
