One of the biggest criticisms that the Trads Behaving Badly (TBBs) have launched on the internet is such: They say that the Pope said the world's biggest evils are be youth unemployment and lonely old people, and then quote a long list of what should be the world`s biggest evils or say otherwise. It seems that unless it is a moral issue of great depravity and/or ethics or attacking the Catholic Faith, it should not be on the Church's priority list, or be bumped down to "non-urgent" status. Clearly they are the arbiters of what the Church`s priority is, no?
My Two Cents
My common sense take on this with regards to the Church:
- The Church has always been concerned with the welfare of the poor as its priority. How many countless saints went out there, dealt with the poor, the youth, the unemployed, or a combination of all three? St. Alphonsus Liguori comes to mind, and he also fought against the Jansenism spreading its way through the ranks of the clergy too (which seems like a bit of a repeat amongst TBBs today ...)
- There's an expression that one can truly evaluate one's personal character, or a society's character, in how it treats the less fortunate. The elderly fall under that category, so if the elderly aren't a concern for the Church, well the Church is really shallow isn't it? That is contradictory to the true nature of the Catholic Church. She never turns a blind eye to the poor and the Weak, and Jesus' said so in his beatitudes. It's people who do so, and turn their backs on the Church and/or choose themselves and their gratification.
- Those young people who aren't working, Guess what? You don't like the fact that our Church is shrinking and "traditional looking parish X" doesn't have enough money to maintain it's beauty, and "trad parish Y" closed down? Guess what TBBs and other Traditionalists, IT TAKES MONEY to finance the Church, and within it, the Latin Mass:
- To clothe and feed your priests, especially those who can say the Latin Mass or want to do valid, licit, and orthodox liturgies. In addition if you want other priests on board, or more so, bishops, you must be willing to give suitable training (e.g. videos, trips to train with the FSSP or a convent), especially if you go by the rules of Summorum Pontificum. If you aren't willing to pay, they won't sacrifice their time to learn the TLM, and the bishop WILL follow the rules of SP .... meaning no priests who can do the TLM, no Mass. You'll have greater success if the resources are there from the start, and that means people willing to finance said resources.
- ... to clothe and feed your choirmasters, and not all of them can get a high paying job outside of their Church work or have the skills to do so, having devoted time and energy to their craft or choirmastering/organ playing, etc. Such a career path, or secondary career, is likely not paying a king's ransom. Practically speaking: Lady Gaga or Signor Magnifico and his baroque/classical/Gregorian Chant music. Who's music is in demand these days, and being paid the big bucks by joe average, or joe Catholic for that matter? HINT: It's not Mr. Magnifico.
- ... to put altar rails in churches that were wreck-o-vated, or to de-modernize a church via renovation. And those parishes that hold your Latin Masses? If it isn't an EF only parish, it's got MANY OTHER concerns besides your Latin Mass at 9am or 2pm or whatever ... many more concerns that have existed before you arrived on the scene, and Novus Ordo Masses that contain the bulk of the parish's paying families and parishioners. If you demand Father to divert his parish funds to your little effort, expect your Latin Mass and its adherents to be booted out of the Church in a flash, as the mis-educated laity will harass the pastor and the bishop with nasty, calumnious letters when they get word of your request for money.
- In addition, if one has a family, whether it's two ailing parents who don't have great jobs or only one, or said individual has a family to feed, and he's dependent on social welfare, or a minimal wage job (which is quite generous here in Canada and the USA vs. other countries)/ not-so-well paying job for where they live, where do you think he/she will be spending the money towards? Their family who needs medical care and attention (if he's a good son/she's a good daughter and takes Commandment #4 seriously) and their family.
- So what's my point? IT TAKES MONEY to buy the things for the Latin Mass, to re-build the sacred and holy culture you value so much, and guess what? When you and the rest of your generation pass on, or the one above you who WERE the big financial contributors to the Church, where do you think that money is going to come from? If the youth of the generation(s) below you cannot afford a decent job, or are kept out of them by your generation(s) who are holding onto the positions, and your company/institution isn't growing, complied with responsibilities to their family members, then blasting the Pope for saying youth unemployment is a priority is damming Traditional Catholicism and the Latin Mass .... there won't be anyone to pay for the expenses that traditional Catholicism needs to be revitalized or maintained. So therefore .... no employed youth ... NO LATIN MASS/holy and orthodox liturgies, or beautiful parishes, for your kids and their grandkids.
- And as for those "Old people",
- Who do you see attending Daily, and even more so, SUNDAY OBLIGATORY MASS?
- Further, there is a push for Euthanasia (oh yeah, isn't that one of your moral issues that you think should take priority over the unemployed and the old people?) in society, which is catching up to its "Death brother", abortion.
- Just recently, a world-renowned and well-respected clinical microbiologist, Dr. Donald Low, died from a fatal brainstem tumour. He was loved and valued by those who worked with him, and remembered for not only his professional work, but his personal interactions with colleagues and friends. He resided in my city, Toronto, and within my Archdiocese (though I do not think he is Catholic).See news coverage here - http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/dr-donald-low-investigated-option-to-die-with-dignity-wife-says-1.1469817. He promoted euthanasia in a post-humously released video as a plea to increase services for those with terminal illnesses and to change the laws regarding euthanasia in the world, including Canada.
- So with those unemployed youth clamoring for jobs, and those seniors who can retire but are not, holding onto positions the youth need to progress and, well, make a living, and those ``lonely old people`` eating up spaces in exhausted health care institutions and nursing homes, guess who's going to be the first to fall in line to euthanasia? That's right, those "lonely old people".
- Might I also mention that while more young people are flocking over to the TLM, the majority are still in Novus Ordo land? So the main people who value the TLM are the older generation who had it pre Vatican-II? A couple of decades more are needed for my generation and the one below me to overtake the TLM and re-discover it.
And that`s my two cents. The next post will be the real ``highlight`` from blogger Kevin Tierney of Common Sense Catholicism. Pax, Julian.
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