C
ChristopherJB5
Guest
Piece of advice:Thank you for the responses. I’m still thinking and praying about this so I’m not sure yet. Lately my parents have been really concerned about me going to this traditional n.o. parish as they unfortunately have been brought up in that baby-boomer liberal catholic education era. On the first Saturday’s of the month when I admit I go to confession I can tell it really upsets them and makes them uncomftorable; it seems they have a hard time distinguishing the sacraments Christ founded from the scandulous errors and scandals pushed by some of its leaders. This is hard for me as well because I’m living in their home. In the end, I try to remind myself that my soul is accountable to Christ not to them. They also have a hard time with American Conference of Catholic Bishops stance on the death penalty and illegal immigration. I myself believe that the death penalty should be used in particularly heinours offenses. I also believe that when Christ said render unto Ceasar unto Caesar he essentially meant obey the secular laws unless they contradict God’s law, which means in my opinion the American government has a right to enforce its borders. This might get me in trouble if I was ever assigned to a parish with a large hispanic laity that expected me to push “comprehensive immigration reform.” Finally, I am still in that process of discerning between a genuine interest in church history and theology from that of a committment to Christ that includes giving up a wife, sex, children, and money. I’ll be honest- the very existence of married priests in the eastern rites in addition to the ordinations of formerly protestant ministers makes this difficultfor me to comprehend.
Do not let your individual predilections color your priesthood. Especially in terms of politics.
Id est, the Church needs another Fr. Coughlin like it needs another Kueng.
The traditional movement should not be turned into a warren of reactionary politics and [predominantly] old school American whites who want a return to an antediluvian Golden Age–socially/politically–before Vatican II.
This is coming from someone who thinks Francisco Franco was a hero, and that Pyotr von Wrangel was one of the single greatest statesman-generals of the 20th century.
However, the struggle of the traditional movement for a pure liturgy and a return to the timeless Church must not be shackled to temporal issues like whether the signs at Home Depot are in English or Spanish.
The trads might be overwhelmingly white and conservative, but they should be willing to stick out their necks for fellow Catholics, even if it means violating the integrity of Caesar’s kingdom with the image of a greater kingdom in mind.
Food for thought.