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| Fact: I prefer raspberry to orange Jaffa Cakes. |
- I feel personally called to cover my head with a chapel veil when I am before the Blessed Sacrament.
- I am absolutely transported by singing and hearing Gregorian Chant.
- If I do become a nun, I would like to wear a Habit of some kind.
- I would prefer that people offered Thanksgiving after Communion, if only the priest gave us time for that.
- I believe we need to Evangelize our "lukewarm" Catholics about the power and love of the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
- I am committed to one hour a week of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
- I belive in Marian apparitions such as Fatima and Lourdes, and I believe in the power of prayer, especially the Rosary.
- I believe in St. Faustina's visions of Christ and the efficaciousness of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
- I am Pro-Life. That includes educating against abortion and reducing the perceived "need" for abortion, and advocating for compassionate end of life care that does not include assisted suicide.
Apparently, in the eyes of many, that makes me a "Traditionalist." I have been stuffed into that box more than once by someone who sees me wearing a mantilla chapel veil, and I have had to clarify where I fall on the spectrum of Catholic.
- I am happily a Post-conciliar Catholic.
- I believe in the need for Evangelizing our laity to EMBODY the Church because we ARE the Church, because we are in fact the Body of Christ, called to be light in the world, called to be salt of the earth, called to be leaven.
- Down with clericalism.
- I am 100% with Pope Francis across the board because he is the real deal, and he gets what it means to be a disciple of Jesus the Messiah in a world burdened with sin and pain.
- I believe it is the call of humanity to care for each other and love each other. This means: feeding the poor, giving shelter to the homeless, educating girls and boys, etc. and not just giving handouts, but helping people to support themselves, discover their gifts and talents, and use those gifts for society for a just wage and in a loving environment.
- I believe in being responsible for the care of Creation, our planet, and each other.
- I support beautiful liturgy that reflects the spirit of the people in the local community.
- I enjoy some JM Talbot, Joncas, and Haugen.
- I am Pro-Life. That includes providing mother, baby and family support services, education for everyone that includes arts and sciences, reducing poverty by just and fair economics, and abolishing the death penalty. I am a pacifist.
If you're at all familiar with Catholic "politics" you readily see how I am not easily pegged as a Trad or a Prog (or a Yang or a Com). I am sick to death of people needing to pigeon hole others because they don't respond to the same type of liturgy, or they feel called to cover their heads, or they love singing "On Eagles Wings" at the top of their lungs. I fail to see how trampling on people who don't value the aesthetics and modes of prayer that you do is Christian. That goes for both sides.
I don't know what to make of any of it, the wild polarities in our Catholic Church (I may as well be talking about Republicans and Democrats), except that the Holy Spirit doesn't play favorites and seems to be helping people find Christ in a myriad of ways.
All I know is that I'm saddened at being asked not to wear my chapel veil by communities I have discerned with (this has happened to me twice, now) because it sends a "message" that I or the community is Traditionalist. I'm also tired of being sent emails about the prophecy of Fatima and how Donald Trump signifies the End Times because I am assumed to be "one of them" by the Traditionalists.
Really, people? And how does this all square with Jesus' teaching about loving each other as ourselves? Didn't he tell us the outside of the cup isn't so important as the inside of the cup? Didn't he say that we aren't to worry about the future, only trust in God's providence? Did he not make it clear that we are not to judge each other? Then why are we arguing, calling the other antichrist? And for crying out Pete's sake loud, how can we expect to be the light of the world when we are busy punching each other in the face?
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is gathered with his disciples and tells them that he has desired to eat this Passover with them. He knows full well what he's about to endure, and he is ready to do it out of love. Do you know what his disciples do? They argue about who among them shall be called the greatest (Lk 22:24). To quote Peter van Breemen, S.J.:
How much Jesus must have suffered at that last meal that he had desired so eagerly, when he discovered that his disciples had understood nothing of his spirit and his mentality (The God Who Won't Let Go, p. 86).
What a sad statement that this can easily apply to his Church in the present day, arguing who has the "right" way to be Catholic and who is doing the work of Satan. We are human, we are sinners, and we can't for a moment think that we're better than anyone else because we've "earned" our place in the Kingdom by being on the right side of the chasm that we ourselves have created.
2 comments:
I am really struggling with this right now. A few friends in my life are really pushing the One Right Way to Be Catholic and I feel a little betrayed by that. One friend advocates Latin Mass and another a very specific type of homeschooling. Because my husband and I don't ascribe to either of those, by their standards, we're "doing Catholic wrong" to the detriment of our family.
By my narrow understanding, love is willing the good of the other. If my friends really loved me, they'd want what is best for us. And what's best for us is to live out our faith the way we see fit (in-line with the Church and living a moral life of course). That means Catholic school for our children and participating in our local parish rather than traveling 50+ miles for a Latin Mass.
I can't help but feel like the Devil seeks to divide and divide. Whereas, if Catholics worked on building a strong community and joining together, we'd all be better off.
Unfortunately, the end result has been I feel they're not my friends at all.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Box of Blessings. It is a sad thing, indeed, and I think you are right in that the enemy seeks to divide our Church, and that has been one of his strategies from the beginning. However, we can take comfort in knowing that Christ Himself told us that the gates of hell will not prevail against his Church, and that the Holy Spirit is always active, taking our meager offerings and bringing blessings out of them. Even when we get things "wrong," God always gets them "right."
I'm sorry to hear that you feel you have lost friends over this. That is very sad and disappointing. The best thing you can do is pray for them, I guess, that they will find it in their hearts to let the Holy Spirit move. And for healing the relationship. You and your family know what is best for you, as you say following the Church's teachings.
We all need to do a better job of "being Church," because WE ARE the Church. It's a process, I suppose, like most things in life.
Take good care. God bless.
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