Once we realize the danger of modernism, it is important to know how to identify modernism on the spot where it occurs, i.e., where it is preached and/or practiced. But this is difficult since modernism is not easily discernible because its particular evil is that it seems to represent sound doctrine when in fact it does not.
The following list of words and phrases are typically used by modernist theologians and lay people, in reference to Catholic theology/practice/attitude/concepts. Most of them are inherently vague and for that very reason are used by the modernists -- it is not clear just what they mean or when their meaning applies.
1. pastoral
2. progressive
3. dynamic
4. open-minded
5. inclusive
6. evolution (in reference to dogma or origin of species)
7. presider / president of the assembly
8. communal celebration (in reference to Holy Mass)
9. eucharistic assembly
10. bread & wine (in reference to the Body & Blood of Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament)
11. altar-table
12. feast of love (instead of "Holy Mass")
13. updating of the Church (aggiornamento)
14. "Spirit of Vatican II"
15. accepting (as in "We are an accepting community")
16. spiritual presence of Jesus (in reference to Jesus' presence at Mass)
17. "Sacraments are an experiential relationship with God"
18. Love (in reference to God, to the exclusion of His Justice)
19. tolerance
20. wafer (in reference to the Host)
21. faith community (instead of "Church")
22. (active) participation (in reference to the Holy Mass)
23. alternative lifestyle (for immoral homosexual behavior)
24. dialogue (instead of conversion)
It is interesting that, as we can list terms and phrases modernists always use, there are also words they never use, or strongly dislike. Such words include Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, penance, repentance, Holy Father, Immaculate Conception, hell, purgatory, holiness, sanctification, sin, Saints (note the capital S!), Real Presence, true Church, objective truth, redemption, and morality.
I wish to note that these above-mentioned twenty words are those commonly used by modernists. I am not saying that anyone who has ever used one or another of these terms is necessarily a modernist. Rather, this list is to draw attention to the commonly-used terminology of those undermining the Church from within. In other words, modernists tend to use these expressions. So beware when you hear them.
Saint Robert Bellarmine, St. Athanasius, and Saint Pius X, pray for us, and deliver us from the heresy of Modernism.
Ain't that the truth!
Excellent calls on most: If someone resists using the spiritual terms for something, and instead uses pedantic terms for the marvelous, then one has to wonder why are they downplaying what happened.
Bread and wine? commonplace. Body and blood of Christ? astounding. If your wife calls you on the phone, and hears you answer, "Oh, it's just some woman," would she not be upset?
At the same time, it is *sometimes* useful to use such terms. When talking about the offetory, one refers to "bread and wine," not "body and blood," because it is STILL merely bread and wine. Other times, the use of body and blood can cause or reflect the confusion that the bread is only the body and the wine is only the blood; the bread and wine are both each the body AND the blood of Christ. I've heard it said, "they only offer the body at that mass." How terrible! Receiving the body, but not the blood would be disastrous for salvation if it were possible!
Some of the words are inherently heretical, such as "updating the Church." Some, as explained above, promote heresy by using insufficient language: it's not a "communal service," it's the Eucharist. (That's what sets us apart from Protestants!) Others simply have no place in a religious context ("progressive"). However, there are proper uses for a few of these words, such as "pastoral." Whoever included that in the list certainly hates the Second Vatican Council.!
I would add the following to the list:
1. "subsists" instead of "is"
2. inter-religious dialogue
3. praying "with" pagans, but not "together" or "at the same time" (false idol worship)
4. "participating" at Mass instead of
"assisting" at the Holy Sacrifice
5. "elements of truth"
6. "salvific elements" of other religions
7. "imperfectly united to the Catholic Church" instead of heretics
8. Jews and Muslims worship the "same one, true God as Christians."
9. Eucharistic ministers
10. Anything called "ministry" that is run by laymen. The correct term is "apostolate."
11. "separatred brethren" instead of heretics
12. "breathing with both lungs" meaning the Roman Church and the Eastern Orthodox, but NOT meaning the SSPX for some reason.
13. Emphasize the "glass is half full" instead of the "glass half empty."
14. Lots and lots of terms and sentences used in Gaudium et Spes
15. "subsists" instead of "is."
'Worship Space'.
For these reasons the Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God. (Pius XII, Humani Generis, 36)
18. Love (in reference to God,
I've discovered another Modernist! "He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is charity" (1 St. John 4:8).
22. (active) participation
I find it amusing that he then appeals to St. Pius X's intercession, since St. Pius X called for active participation.
We deem it necessary to provide before anything else for the sanctity and dignity of the temple, in which the faithful assemble for no other object than that of acquiring this spirit from its foremost and indispensable font, which is the active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church. (St. Pius X, Tra le Sollecitudini)
I live in upstate NY, and it's corn season here. We've had a lot of rain, and I think some of the crop was lost. I'm on my second ear, butter, salt: simple but unsurpassable.
When I think of all that the Good Lord has deigned to Bless me with, I'm overcome with gratitude. And supposedly, no one deserves blessings, but I can think of countless people who deserve them more than me.
Does the Church talk about Gratitude much these days? Is it in the modernists' lexicon?
The modernists greatest self-deception is that the Church is about Man, and not The Son of Man. So, perhaps man, is another watchword.