Becoming Traditional Catholic Part II

JMJ

In my last post I discussed some of the differences between the Trad world and ... basically everything else.

But that wasn't really about 'becoming Traditional Catholic'.

For those who weren't 'born TCatholics' there seems to be a common thread.

Something happened the 'opened their eyes' to what happened or was happening. In some cases it was an intellectual realization, for others it was traumatic ... or a combination thereof.

Then there is suffering during the transition.

In the case of my family, the trauma started when one of my brothers started having an uneasy feeling about our new parish priest. He went back to our old parish and ... started asking questions.

Questions that upset the parish priest to the extent that my brother was featured (under a pseudonym) in a Sunday sermon.

My brother has that quality.

Eventually, he realized that there was something before the Novus Ordo Missae ... and found it.

This was the advent of major arguments in my otherwise quiet family.

In the end, my Dad sat down and read the Encyclopedia Britannica article on Luther and the reformation. When he finished reading the article, he looked up at my mother and said:

We've been tricked.

They had a meeting with our parish priest and the discussion culminated with them asking the priest a simple question. The priest gave the wrong answer. At that point we began Church hopping, while my brother went to the Tridentine Mass when it was offered (by Fr. Yves Normandin once every few weeks at that time ) we returned to our old parish with its very ultra-conservative priest (RIP).

Fr. Yves Normandin

My brother started to notice that there were vestiges of the Tridentine Mass hidden in plain sight throughout the Church. Candle sticks, statues, side altars etc.

Eventually, we switched to the Ukranian Rite (still Traditional at that time) and then a Sunday Tridentine Mass became available.

That was the rubicon moment.

We started to go 100% Tridentine.

This glosses over the arguments and sufferings that went along with our transition.

Not all of my family remained TCatholics, some reverted to being nTCatholics. Personally, my first day was less than stellar. However, my understanding of what was going on grew fairly quickly.

Achieving a good balanced perspective did take a number of years - but 2 years of education in St. Mary's Kansas did help!

So - what the lesson?

When the 'eye opening' moment occurs - it is a moment of grace. Seize it and profit from that moment.
Be ready for sufferings, but that is how we will merit the grace for others.

P^3

Comments

A Reply to Martin Blackshaw’s FLAWED Remnant article titled: FLAWED: SSPX Advice on Abortion-tainted Vaccines

+ JMJ An article has appeared in the Remnant (link to article) and I am afraid that there are a number of flaws in it that need to be addressed. The author, Martin Blackshaw, believes that both the Church and the SSPX are misapplying the principle of Moral Theology called 'Cooperation In Evil'. Unfortunately, Mr. Blackshaw rests most of his arguments on citing authors that support his position, without considering the possibility that they are wrong. This highlights a key factor in this crisis: ignorance of the faith and its application . I don't am not singling out Mr. Blackshaw for this criticism, I have observed that it applies to laity and religious, superior and subject a like. No one seems immune in this enduring crisis, myself included. I further believe that this ignorance is why so many Catholics, both traditional and non, rely on their gut feeling or "Catholic conscience" for charting their way through this crisis of the faith. While...

The Vatican and SSPX – An Organizational Culture Perspective

Introduction The recent and continuing interactions between the Vatican and the SSPX have been a great opportunity for prayer and reflection. The basis for the disagreement is theological and not liturgical. As noted by Dr. Lamont (2012), the SSPX theological position on the four key controversial aspects of the Second Vatican Council are base on prior theological work that resulted from relevant magisterial pronouncements. So it is difficult to understand the apparent rejection of the theological position of the SSPX.

Rome and the SSPX - the latest

+ JMJ Bishop Fellay gave a conference late last month and provided some more insight into the situation with Rome. There are comments on Deus Ex Machina Blog and Hilary White has now entered the fray. What is one Catholic to think about all these opinions? What a Catholic is to think: With the Church! What does the Church think about obedience? Virtue as it is? If there is no proximate occasion of sin and the other conditions are met, then one cannot resist the command.

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making. It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX. The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience. The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members. It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3

Tradicat

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