What I meant was that, according to your own criteria for judging, you sound every bit as “rebellious” as anyone else that you have accused. And of course, as you well know, I also said that using the term “rebellion” was a long shot and bordered on the ridiculous.
Using YOUR OWN “logic”, someone could brand you as “rebellious” because you think that the Magisterium can be ignored as long as a local Bishop ignores a topic, or worse yet, doesn’t even understand the issue at hand. You could be seen as ignoring the “Ordinary Magisterium”. Things do NOT have to be codified as law or be proclaimed “ex cathedra” in order to be followed in good faith.
I don’t think the Magisterium can be ignored. I don’t see where you got that idea.
The Magisterium has never made a binding statement about use of instruments other than pipe organ in the Mass.
When people choose to form themselves on the directives of the Magisterium , it is hardly “rebellion”, just because certain Bishops choose not to act on this topic.
My Bishop HAS acted on this topic. He has chosen to allow pianos and guitars in Masses.
He is quite involved in the parishes and actively works to make sure that the Masses are abuse-free. None of our parish priests slip abuses past him. I have personally witnessed what happens when a priest decides to add something to the Mass–our Bishop makes it stop within a few weeks, as soon as he knows about it. He is not asleep.
When I hear people on CAF discuss abuses, I can honestly say that I have never seen any of what they talk about in the various parishes in my diocese. Ever.
Also, we have had the TLM in our diocese for many years, since the mid 1990s, under the guidance of our Bishop. He is an active supporter of the EF Mass, but he is also an active supporter of the OF Mass.
Perhaps you have the idea that our bishop is one of those mixed-up 1970s love children who is more interested in making the Catholic Church “cool” than making it correct. That is not the way our Bishop is at all. His doctorate is in canon law, and he is known throughout the world as one of the conservative and orthodox bishops, in the same camp with Bishop Burke (formerly of St. Louis).
You say you’ve stated over and over again your willingness to “obey” your Bishop. But it seems that, as far as this topic is concerned, there is nothing to “obey” where you are.
That’s not true.
Our bishop is on top of things here. Our diocese actually has a surplus of vocations, and they attend conservative seminaries, not the wishy-washy ones.
We have an excellent diocese.
As far as the rest of your above quote goes, you seem to just be ranting. I don’t think that anyone questions the fact that, as long as Bishops allow this type of thing, no one can be seriously faulted with it, the buck stops with them. However, in light of what the Church teaches on the subject, some people (myself included) think it is best to follow the lead of the Magisterium, and feel that some people need to be reminded of the content of this teaching, to avoid going over the deep-end.
If I understand you correctly, you are saying that when it seems that the Pope has made comments that differ from the bishop, you obey the Pope and ignore the Bishop. Is that what you are saying? Am I understanding you correctly?
Participating in secular-style Church music hardly makes you “obedient”.
I do NOT participate in secular-style Church music. The music that we use is approved by the Bishops in the United States. If the Pope thinks they are wrong, then HE should make them stop rather than allowing them to lead all of us trusting laypeople astray in secularism. He has not done stopped them.
To use your “logic”, a teenager with extremely lax parents could say "I don’t feel comfortable being chaste and sober, etc. because my parents allow me to have pre-marital sex and to smoke pot… and I’ve always been an obedient child. Until they say differently, I will continue to have sex and do drugs as a form of obedience.
Sex outside of marriage and abuse of the body through misuse of substances are both sins. The teenager should obey God, who clearly teaches that these acts are sins in His Word and through the various Church documents. The teaching of the Church and of the Bible is that we must obey God rather than men, and if our parents (or other authorities) allow us (or command us) to do something that is clearly sinful, we must disobey them and obey God.
A child knows this. A teenager should know it, and if he/she does not know this, then the parents and the parish are at fault for not adequately catechizing, and the teenager also is at fault for not reading God’s Word and studying the Church’s teachings on his/her own.
But playing the piano in Mass is not a sin.
Ridiculous, right? How can the child be “obedient” to nothing?
You can do what you do musically with a good conscience because the Bishop allows it -
but don’t paint it as some kind of holy obedience - that it is not.
I am not painting anything I do as “holy obedience.” I have been taught by my Church through my local parish that in following what my bishop and priests proclaim, I am not sinning. If my Church through my local parish is teaching me wrongly, then a curse be upon the Church through my local parish. If I cannot trust them in this, then I cannot trust them in anything they say.
How do you know what things your parish is teaching correctly and which your parish is teaching incorrectly? Do you have the equivalent knowledge of canon law, church documents, and Magisterium teachings as a bishop? By any chance, are you a bishop?
