Thanks for posting this. I am reading Pope Benedict’s book on the Eicharist, written while he was still Cardinal Ratzinger. He discusses the dissension after Vatican II and says that some poeple thought that making mass more “everyday” was what Christ wanted. He said this is why we had a series of churches built with multi-purpose areas rather than a separate church and parish hall. This struck me because that is how MY parish church was until about 8 years ago, when they gathered enough money to build a separate church and leave the mulit-purpose room to be the parish hall.
I also have struggled with parishioners who seem like they would be more happy as Methodists or something else non-Catholic, but instead are within the Church complaining and pushing false doctrine. I struggle with the abysmal music, my personal share in the sufferings of Christ.
Yet I cannot be anywhere else. One of the reasons I joined was BECAUSE of obedience, something I knew I needed to learn. And I joined because I cannot escape the idea that this is the Church Christ founded.
Now I must tell you I probably will not be here anymore. I have appreciated all the posts you have put up, but this place has become very unpleasant and is not on my list of places to visit. I came upon your post by accident.
So thank you for all of your work here over the years, and may God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit bless you for it.
But...we need good people like you to provide the balance, wisdom, etc. We need to pray for those who are frustrated and help them think. This Caucus has become one of the best things here for me...and that is because these good people are faithful.
;-)
I will miss you, Miss Marple. Your posts have helped and sustained me throug the years and I thank you. Keep the faith. I too suffer at times with all the distractions caused by poor music, or too Glee-like music at Mass.
However, I remind myself that my job is to focus on what is going on at the altar and I will let no man lessen the Eucharist for me. It is just between me and God. Everything else is superfluous. I have begun a “Mass Journal” that I bring to Mass and in it I record the message of that Mass that struck me in my journey to be the best version of me I can be. Maybe doing that will help you too. It focuses the mind on the message.
When we suffer abuse for being Catholic we can count ourselves lucky to suffer those stripes for Him. God bless you always.
I too, find myself coming here and posting here less and less. This thread is a perfect example of why. If I were to go back two months, six months, a year, five years, a decade, I would find the same objections, the same flawed exegesis and the same baseless accusations about the Church and her teachings.
I do love to read things such as this by Carl Olsen, whom I consider to be a great gift to lay Catholics, but I have no desire to get into the same go round over and over.
Sometimes I find a new angle, a new thought and I am willing to explore it with the poster as long as they remain respectful, but for the most part, it has become a waste of time and energy.
If one confines one’s visit to the OP, ignoring the contrariness of the responses, there is much to edify and elevate one’s faith.