An Open Letter to the Church Renouncing My Service on I.C.E.L.

Communicantes (Newsletter of the Society of St. Pius X in Canada) ^ | October 2002 | Rev. Fr. Stephen Somerville

[BlackElk]

Tridentine or Novus Ordo?

[Catholicguy]

<> Yer barkin' up the wrong tree. Sitetest's reputation here is impeccable. He is ALWAYS charitable (although, I am freepmailing him on occasion to "loosen" him up).<>

[Catholicguy]

<> So, I guess your "reasoning" is that Max Thurian deviously involved himself in a conspiracy with the Pope and other Protestants to "protestantise" the Mass so he could place himself under the authority of the Pope? How typicaly protestant :)<>

[Catholicguy]

<> LOL I suspect tridentine. Canibalism is both old and ritualistic :)<>

[BlackElk]

But I DO hop from parish to parish about half the time so as not to lose touch with what is going on in the Novus Ordo parishes. I am particularly concerned that Tridentine Catholics not close themselves up in the comfy cocoon of a Tridentine parish and make believe that the rest of the world does not exist.

One of my biggest gripes with the usual gang of "traditionalist" suspects is their propensity to separate themselves from the Novus Ordo parishes and to develop an incestuous inbreeding of ideas in which they imagine themselves superior to the actual Church because all fifteen people they know agree with them.

The Novus Ordo churches have a need for some traditionalists with emotional self-control to check the abuses that the Kumbaya crowd want to institutionalize. There is nothing that the AmChurch liberals love more than ghettoizing Trintine Catholics. The suspects are eager to ghettoize themselves.

As to the last point, of course, the Faith was never meant to be limited to our homes, but it must BE in our ho,mes as well as in the public arena. We are the ones who are responsible for our respective children and their moral development. If we don't educate them, others will and we will not like the results. Not only that but we are morally responsible for our failures to educate the children God has entrusted to us. I know you know that but I wanted to say it lest anyone else be misled.

I started my eldest in the parochial scool I attended. The pastor of the parish was thoroughly orthodox and used to say the Tridentine Mass for us at another parish on occasion. Even he could not stem the evil of a bureaucracy which imposed a radical ex-nun as the principal (as we learned the hard way). When our then six year old was repeatedly taught that Christ did not know He was God even on the cross, we were convinced of homeschooling after exchanging nastygrams with the radical ex-nun to no avail.

[Desdemona]

The Novus Ordo churches have a need for some traditionalists with emotional self-control to check the abuses that the Kumbaya crowd want to institutionalize.

Easier said than done, especially when the Kumbaya people are the more respected in the parish due to social/economic status. That's another chunck of why I left the last parish. The Kumbayas actually managed to persuade the people in favor of tradition that they were wrong on a few things.

Well, guess what. Everybody's favorite cantor got up and left. And people have been asking where I've been and one of these days I'm going to actually have to tell them the whole truth.

[Catholicguy]

In reading through this thread you have admitted to calling other people "sons of satan".

<> LOL "admitted?" Hell, I used those very words on this thread.<>

If that is how you engage in dialogue, I believe your own admission disqualifies you from choosing sides.

<>Here it is your FIRST day (at least under this name) in Freeperville and your FIRST post is to Sitetest and you try and goad him into an arguement. Nothing 'spicious 'bout dat :)<>

Nope. I think it quite normal for a "newbie" to come blasting into a new town gunning for the Charity Sheriff. Well, it didn't work. You shot yourself in the foot.

And now you tell me I am disqualified from choosing sides...tsk, tsk. It appears I have jeopardised my chances of being your friend. Will the injustices of this epoch never cease?<>

[saradippity]

I go nuts when someone I like is banned and I don't know why. I was on another thread that was about politics and maybe Iraq or Israel,Bud took a position contrary to the prevalent thinking and was banned. It had nothing to do with Catholicism at all. I didn't think he should have been banned but he clearly was getting to quite a few people. I will look through my "bookmarks" and see if I can find the thread,just know it wasn't a Catholic,who had him banned nor was it a Catholic or religious thread.

[sitetest]

Dear saradippity,

Thanks for this information.


Dear ultima ratio,

"But someone--I strongly suspect it was you--went bawling to whomever to have at him. You are really not a person of much character."

Since you now have first-hand testimony that this is a false accusation, I know that you will do the right thing and retract your comment.


sitetest

[sitetest]

Dear smevin,

It's not polite to tell falsehoods, especially on your very first day at FR, especially about other posters:

"I asked sitetest a simple question which he refused to answer."

I answered your questions.

You didn't like my last answer.

That's your problem.

"Fortunately, another poster provided a thoughtful response which answered my question."

That's true. Patent is one of the most thoughtful posters here. And most thoroughly orthodox Catholic. And most thoroughly loyal to the Vicar of Christ on earth.

You would do well to take him as a role model, both in his posting behavior, and his actions as a faithful and devout Catholic. I could not recommend a better role model.

Except, perhaps for Catholicguy.

;-)


sitetest

[sitetest]

Dear smevin,

"'I answered your questions. It's not polite to tell falsehoods.'

"You responded to my question with another question. That is not an answer - that is a response."

My thesaurus shows that "answer" and "response" are synonyms.

Thanks for playing.

;-)


sitetest

[sitetest]

Dear sandyeggo,

"There are so many Catholics that did not get the catechesis that they should have."

Well, take heart, friend. At least in my own archdiocese, I've noticed that folks who are a bit younger than me (I'm in my early 40s), and went to Catholic schools locally, are much better catechized than folks my age and older.

When my executive assistant brings in her kids' religion homework from the local Catholic elementary school, I'm heartened to see how much traditional Catholic doctrine, practice, and piety these kids are being taught. Certainly, I wasn't taught this stuff.

These are the true fruits of the Second Vatican Council.


sitetest

[RobbyS]

I've noticed that folks who are a bit younger than me (I'm in my early 40s), and went to Catholic schools locally, are much better catechized than folks my age and older. A good sign that the theological liberals are disappearing. But , dear Lord , what damagae they have done.

[sitetest]

Dear RobbyS,

Yeah, but frankly, these younger folks are also better catechized than the pre-Vatican II folks.

I just don't think all the damage can be blamed on "theological liberals" (not that they didn't do their own damage). I think that a lot of the problems that we attribute to the post-Vatican II era existed prior to the Second Vatican Council, and often, to a much greater degree than folks are willing to admit.


sitetest

[Desdemona]

I just don't think all the damage can be blamed on "theological liberals" (not that they didn't do their own damage). I think that a lot of the problems that we attribute to the post-Vatican II era existed prior to the Second Vatican Council, and often, to a much greater degree than folks are willing to admit.

How much of it do you think is a form of intellectual laziness? The same sort that brought us the ideas that English grammar didn't need to be taught if kids heard the language spoken properly. You know, when sentence diagramming was dropped. Or was that later?