Monday, April 30, 2007

Clowns to the Left of me, Kooks to the Right

It has been a while since I posted anything. Just been busy with work, and family, and just busy reading blogs. But now, thanks to the the numerous things that I have read regarding some people in the traditionalist Catholic camp, I am moved to write.

By definition, this is more about the aforesaid Kooks than about the Clowns. For the most part, by attending more conservative parishes (Novus Ordo), I can usually avoid the Clowns altogether. On the other hand, I try to be diligent in supporting the least little traditional bit at any church I attend, so as to provide positive reinforcement - be it a simple comment after Mass, a "thank you" email, or a "well done" voice mail left for the music director.

That having been said, I am amazed (though not really surprised) at the number of KOOKS there seem to be in this trad world I have ventured in to. Not that I see or meet them personally, but there seem to be an abundance of them in the blogosphere. (Note: Greensboro North Carolina USA appears to be far far off the beaten path of such things. No indult Tridentine Mass, no SSPX even) The bloggers themselves are reasonable and polite and sensible, but the commenters - wow! It seems like every blog entry is followd by some wag holding forth about the minutia of God-knows-what, almost always with the transparently obvious goal of proving to the world just how much more pious, knowledgable, and "traditional" they are than both the blogger and any other commenters.

Then... THEN... To make matters worse, on the priest's blogs that exist, these idiots presume to chastize the priests, or priest commenters, for not "caring for their flock". Guys, if you are out there and reading this, listen up. The priesthood is a profession. These men are professionals who have taken apon themselves the task of saving souls like yours, a lot of times when that isn't all that easy thing to do. To berate them for not having encyclopedic knowledge of the footnotes to some Papal document from the 18th century is patently absurd - you guys are KOOKS!!!

I saw this first, back in December on the New Liturgical Movement blog where a priest at a small parish tried his level best to have a beautiful, reverent Christmas Mass, here, and a whole tsunami of commenters raised hell because of the way he wore his biretta. How christian is that?? Since then the thing has snowballed, it seems, and I see these self-congratulatory idiotic comments coming up everywhere.

People..... If you want tradition, SUPPORT it!!! If a priest has made an error in rubrics, BE NICE about correcting him. And for God's sake, do it off-board and privately!!

I have said this in comments elsewhere, and I'll say it again. What we are confronting here is a sales job. We are selling Catholic Tradition. And IT CANNOT BE SOLD using the technique of "Say mass this way because the other way sucks". Try making a living in sales using that technique and you'll starve very quickly. If the good, forward-looking sensible supporters of tradition don't do everything in their power to build support for the cause - to "define" themseves as a positive force, they will become "defined" by the fringe - the kooks- and they are doomed.

On the other hand, I believe in the idea that all that’s necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing. That means if the good, forward-looking people do make a concerted effort to plead their case, success can be theirs (ours). So, talk to your priest, send an email, shake hands, talk to others at church. And be pleasant and upbeat and appreciative - consistently. It works....

1 comment:

The Crescat said...

he he... you open the fav can-o-worms that riles up uber trads. Yo might even get a visit from my regular SSPX'ers that comment on my blog. I think the are trying to meet their recruitment numbers.