True or False?

I love the way "experts" in the Church are always using Vatican II as a scapegoat for giving authority to their claims of liturgical correctness. The reality is, most of the crap they spew comes from their own illogical and unscholarly opinions of what they want which they then impose on the faithful with most often disastrous results. Let's take a look at some of the issues that are in the fore-front due to Benedict XVI's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum.

1. Mass must be said in the language of the people. FALSE! What it did say in Sacrosanctum Concilium [Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy] is "the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites (36.1). It did, however, say that "In Masses which are celebrated with the people, a suitable place may be allotted to their mother tongue. This is to apply in the first place to the readings and "the common prayer," (Prayer of the Faithful) but also, as local conditions may warrant, to those parts which pertain to the people" (Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, Gradual and Alleluia or Tract, Creed, Offertory Antiphon, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Communion Antiphon) (SC 54). But, in the same paragraph it goes on to say: "Nevertheless steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin those parts of the Ordinary of the Mass which pertain to them."

2. Mass must be said facing the people. FALSE! Vatican II said nothing about this at all. In fact, the rubrics, or directions for the priest, in the Missal of Paul VI (Ordinary Form) specify that at certain points he turns to the people and says. . . Why would the rubrics tell the priest to do this if he were already facing them? The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments cleared up the question in a response to a European cardinal when he said that it is not necessary for the priest to face the congregation. This is especially true in older churches. (See CDW Prot. No 2036/00/L)

3. The old mass was outlawed. FALSE! In fact it has been continuously celebrated by priests in good standing with the permission of either the pope, their bishop, or the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. Pope Benedict also made this clear in Summorum Pontificum.

4. Vatican II established Communion in the hand. FALSE! It never even thought of it as it was unthinkable. Communion in the hand is by indult, that is by special permission. It is not the norm it has been made out to be. (CDW Notitiae April 1999) In fact, history bears out that in the USA, the bishops established Communion in the hand against the wishes of and without the indult of Paul VI. They only asked for the indult once it was firmly established, putting the pope in a very difficult place.

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who "quote" sources that they haven't checked only because they heard someone else say it or they think you either don't know or won't check them on it. I have learned since my days in the seminary that one must very carefully go back and check out the sources if you want to know the truth. You won't get it from most of the professors. Not that they are deliberately teaching falsehood, but they themselves are relying on the authority of others. Even the USCCB doesn't check the sources but often relies on "experts" who push their own agendas and are quick to label.... and libel.

Count me in with Sgt. Joe Friday. "Just the facts."

Grace Is Everywhere

I'm currently reading a book, and no, it isn't the latest (and last) Harry Potter. It's called A Map of the Harbor Islands by J. G. Hayes. One of the things I've learned, or rather re-learned, is to appreciate the things we usually don't notice in life, especially after we've "grown up." Even if it's bugs.

Sometimes what we miss is painfully obvious to a child or to the child-like. Our minds are so full of insignificant crap which we're so preoccupied with that we can't notice what's going on around us. And we miss the lessons that God or, if you would rather, life, is trying to teach us about living.

A few weeks ago I was watching a dad with his little boy walking along the sidewalk. What caught my attention was the father's patience with his young son. The boy was only about 2 years old and was noticing everything. At one point he stopped and squatted down, looking intently at something on the ground. He stayed that way for two or three minutes just watching intently while his father stood patiently keeping an eye on his enraptured son. I thought to myself, "That's one patient man. If it were my kid I'd probably be pulling him along telling him to get a move on."

Finally the little boy stood up.

"What were you looking at," the father asked?

"Bugs," came the reply.

"What are the bugs doing?"

"Helping make a house so they can all live together out of the rain and not get wet."

There are numerous lessons to be found in this snippet of life. Different for each of us, depending on our own needs. I was luckey that the little boy and his father caught my attention and so I witnessed the work of the bugs through his eyes. Left to my own devices I would never have even notieced. I would never have learned that there are really very few things we can do on our own, especially important things. But when we all work together and help we can usually accomplish what needs to be done.

I needed to be reminded of that on that day. My mind was filled with worrying about getting something done by myself.