Why Not?

[pipper]

Why not have a forum for what I call “regular” Catholics? By that I mean Catholics who are perfectly happy with Mass in the vernacular in the Novus Ordo form. For Catholics who are happy recieving Our Lord in the hand, and are not upset with Holy Communion under both species. Catholics who don’t mind seeing our priests in clerical collars instead of insisting on cassocks, and our sisters in the more modern versions of their habits instead of the old fashion habits of years gone by?

Don’t get me wrong I would not like priests and religious in secular attire just like the rest of us. But I do think there has to be a middle ground as well.

I think there was nothing wrong with VII, just the abuses of it.

But on here there is the Traditional Catholic forum trying to represent all Catholics, and what I consider regular Catholics just get left out, but I know I am not alone, there are a lot of other Catholics who are not interested in things like SSPX, or restoring the Tridentine Mass to exclusive usage.

I am disabled and cannot kneel at the rail for Holy Communion, and I don’t think I am any less of a Catholic for it.

Likewise I have had a stroke that has greatly reduced my ability to learn new langagues such as Latin, and I don’t think I’m a bad Catholic for it.

 

[pipper]

BTW, I want to appologise to any Traditionalists I may have offended, I truly don’t mean to offend anyone.

Ideally this thread does not even belong here, but the way the board is set up there was no place else to put it.

That is the reason I am asking the moderators here to set up a seperate forum for “regular” Catholics, who are not traditionalists.

 

[FightingFat]

Pipper, no one would say you were any less of a Catholic because you are unable to kneel at the altar rail!

I think when you’re here a bit longer, you might see that the whole of Catholic Answers Forums is for “ordinary Catholics”, including this “traditional” forum. Katholikos- according to the whole, encompasses a wealth of cultures and peoples.

Perhaps it could be said that the more a part of your life Catholicism becomes, the more import you place on things that others might deem minor concerns. You begin to see little things as devotions and personal commitments you can make to God, ways to deepen your faith and commitment to Him (sort of Matthew 6:1-6). The Liturgy then becomes a really central part of what you are about.

When I first came here, I think I found the rigid adherence and lack of compromise in the Traditional forum a little hard to understand. But as my understanding of the Church grew, I started to understand it better. Another great aid in this journey for me was wdtprs.com/blog/ it might take a bit of time to get into the blog, but if you persevere, a daily reading of Fr. Z really gives you a good understand of how Traditionalism is integral to Catholic life-- the hermeneutic if continuity in fact!

 

[larousser]

There is no obligation to receive kneeling at the altar rail for someone who would find it hard. I see people with broken legs, bad backs etc at the rail, and they all receive standing. If someone is in a wheelchair the priest comes out over the rails and gives them Holy Communion.

 

[pipper]

Fighting fat, I am not a new Catholic, just new to this particular forum. I have beeen Catholic since 1974.

Like wise I have never heard the Tridentine Mass, I’m too young, I do beleive there is a place 50 miles away where they do say it, but I don’t think they are in Communion with the Holy Father, and to my mind a lot like schismatic Protestants, I refuse to go there.

 

[Extempore]

Hi Pipper,

I think the easy answer is that pretty much the whole of Catholic Answers Forums is for what you call “regular” Catholics. You might want to try the “Liturgy and Sacraments” forum where I think you will find that the more modern preference is emphasized.

In all honesty, the Traditional Forum is in the minority as it is only one forum and to the best of my knowledge most of the users on these boards do not attend the TLM.

As for your disability, you are perfectly able to stand and a priest would understand. The issue a traditionalist would have would be with those people who have the ability to kneel but refuse to do so for whatever reason.

But, just as an FYI, its ultimately kind of ironic because up until the mid-60’s, the TLM-attending traditionalists were the “regular” Catholics and what you see today would have been the minority. How things have changed.