Having been born in the 60s, I have no strong recollection, beyond some overheard conversations, of what it must have felt like to witness the tearing down of everything. It must have felt to many that all was ending and that God must surely act to defend His Church from the destruction.
Alas, it was not to be and the destruction continued, most people just cared less.
As a child with no recollection of what came before, I still had a sense of loss. It is hard to explain, but I knew something was wrong. Ask my family, they will tell you that I have always been like this, of course they would say it mockingly.
I also wondered why so many people, at that time, failed to see it for what it was. They smiled and called it the new springtime even as everything died around them. They called it opening the doors and letting fresh air into the Church, as everybody inside choked on the smoke of Satan. How did they not see what was happening?
I have often wondered what it must have felt like to live through that era. I wonder no more. In fact, I think that perhaps today’s high speed death spiral may be worse in some ways. Having never been through it before and unable to see its logical end, many well meaning Catholics perhaps opened themselves up to the false optimism of that era.
Today, having seen what the last 50 years has wrought, I have, we have no such luxury.
Today is not 1970, but I sometimes imagine I feel as some must have felt back then. I know some people and I am acquainted with more people who are really struggling in this time. I know that so many ‘Catholic’ pundits and wannabe pundits would mock them for their worries even as they celebrate every novelty and heresy that infects the Church as, you guessed it, a breath of fresh air.
I can see it. I can see it so clearly. The only question that remains is whether this time, the Lord will act.
I have often pondered this question. Will I live long enough to see the Church fully transmogrified into syncretistic modernized mess it seems hellbent on becoming or will the Church be rescued by the Lord.
As I said, I have often wondered what it must have felt like. I don’t wonder that anymore, I know now. The only thing I wonder now is when God will choose to act and rescue us, His Church, from us, His Church.
We have partied on the train tracks for so long, we delude ourselves into thinking them abandoned. But the train is coming, I can see the light in the distance and I know with certainty it will arrive. I cannot tell how far out is the light of the train and I can’t say how fast it is moving. But it is coming, of this I have no doubt.
When will others see it and will it be too late?
As a blogger, I pray and ask for guidance. Lord, should I just pack it in and just focus on getting my family through this time. Or, should I be shouting the obvious from the rooftops, even though I know I will continue to be ignored and vilified. I don’t know, I guess I will keep praying.
**Note. If you don’t sympathize or understand this post, that’s fine. Just let it go please. Anyone who chooses to use the comment box to mock me and my fellow travellers will be deleted and likely banned. So again, just let it go please.
April 30, 2014 at 1:07 pm
And who are you to judge?
April 30, 2014 at 1:47 pm
And as a further response to Jack Archer and Ubrington regarding praying the rosary, or some other devotion, during Mass we have this genuinely pastoral statement from Pope Pius XII in Mediator Dei:
"108. Many of the faithful are unable to use the Roman missal even though it is written in the vernacular; nor are all capable of understanding correctly the liturgical rites and formulas. So varied and diverse are men's talents and characters that it is impossible for all to be moved and attracted to the same extent by community prayers, hymns and liturgical services. Moreover, the needs and inclinations of all are not the same, nor are they always constant in the same individual. Who, then, would say, on account of such a prejudice, that all these Christians cannot participate in the Mass nor share its fruits? On the contrary, they can adopt some other method which proves easier for certain people; for instance, they can lovingly meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ or perform other exercises of piety or recite prayers which, though they differ from the sacred rites, are still essentially in harmony with them."
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_20111947_mediator-dei_en.html
April 30, 2014 at 1:53 pm
As a further addition to Jack Archer and Ubrington's comments regarding praying the rosary or some other devotion during Mass we have this genuinely pastoral statement from Pope Pius XII in Mediator Dei:
"108. Many of the faithful are unable to use the Roman missal even though it is written in the vernacular; nor are all capable of understanding correctly the liturgical rites and formulas. So varied and diverse are men's talents and characters that it is impossible for all to be moved and attracted to the same extent by community prayers, hymns and liturgical services. Moreover, the needs and inclinations of all are not the same, nor are they always constant in the same individual. Who, then, would say, on account of such a prejudice, that all these Christians cannot participate in the Mass nor share its fruits? On the contrary, they can adopt some other method which proves easier for certain people; for instance, they can lovingly meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ or perform other exercises of piety or recite prayers which, though they differ from the sacred rites, are still essentially in harmony with them."
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_20111947_mediator-dei_en.html
April 30, 2014 at 2:37 pm
One of the annoying bits is when folks who you try to tell about how horribly you were abandoned without even a basis to teach yourself about basic theology assure you that it must've been simply that you weren't interested.
My mom was removed as a CCD teacher during the 70s because the priest didn't like her disagreeing with his claim that sex before marriage was just fine as long as you "really loved" the other person. CCD improved after that– they didn't even talk about Church teachings. I've had multiple arguments about the need for confession. (My own– as in, I said I needed it, they assured me that was silly.)
The parish I grew up in now has things like the Priest's father givng the sermon the Sunday before Christmas for fund raising activities to support the illegal alien community down the road.
People who have been going there since I was a kid, through horrible priests, have stopped going– after the excitement of finally having a priest that is fluent in English from the day he arrives.
April 30, 2014 at 2:55 pm
The Church did, but a lot of Catholics did not, in either sense (surviving in the faith, or surviving by not being killed.
April 30, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Hi Father and all,
I was born in 1964. My mother and father left the church for decades because of this. It's really only because of my grandparents and aunt that us kids made our First Communion, Confession, Confirmation. Attending Mass in between mostly did not happen, not growing up. my dad, who is passed now, never returned to the church, but spoke all the time about the beatiful medieval church. he and my mom had all that ripped from them, them and a few good priests in Chicago at the time. My dad actually read all the Vat. II documents. It's a miracle af grace that my sister and I are back at all. so dont despare, becasuse I think we are living in this, and at the tail end of it, too. and if ONLY to be a thorn in Hell's side, I stay in the Church.
http://www.michaeljournal.org/visionleo.asp
I think we're at the end of this, and if we're not, well, then the Lord and Our Lady will find me attending a TLM, receiving Holy Communion kneeling and on the tongue, and praying the Rosary. Because of Who is in that tabernacle. If every single person in the pews and the priest up on the altar, and everyone in Rome, were heretics and apostates, I would still be a Roman Catholic because of Who is in that Tabernacle.
Because if THAT isn't true, there is no truth.
If that isn't true, there is no truth.
So, there. 🙂
Who's with me?
April 30, 2014 at 3:06 pm
I have to say in was worse in the late 60's and 70's. Not only were liturgical changes made frequently and illegally (and the frequency of altered translations destroyed any sense of customary prayer), heresy was openly taught and Rome was silent, and appointing bad bishops. One had to watch people, priests and religious, going mad, older Catholic suffering terribly or leaving, younger ones being misled, churches gutted overnight in secret. One saw the fallout of lives ruined by the bad teaching. I had a theology degree in 68 and was denied a volunteer position once because I was NOT a pantheist. The nun said my problem was that I believed that God created the world. Honestly. And that is one of hundred such stories from me alone. What was worse then was that there was no source of support or information. Faithful Catholics now have immense amounts of support in print, in blogs, in organizations. In those days, one was underground.
April 30, 2014 at 3:07 pm
One bishop out of ALL was faithful in the time of Henry VIII. What does that say?
April 30, 2014 at 3:10 pm
I agree about the chastisement….the sins of the clergy were terrible. Forty percent don't up and leave all of a sudden because they have been behaving well. Much of the abuse documented in legal cases in our time happened in the post-war period thru the early 60's.
April 30, 2014 at 3:13 pm
"the Arians you always have with you…"
April 30, 2014 at 3:14 pm
You are correct. However, one thing that made it easy for the wreckovators to succeed was the deep sense of obedience that Catholic lay people were inculcated with. What Father said was what Father said. And at the time, Father said this was what Rome wanted – heck, I was still heariing that in the 80's from idiot pseudo-experts – that Rome ordered the despoiling. And parents who complained about abuse were bound to secrecy under pain of excommunication!
April 30, 2014 at 3:16 pm
Yes, but what about the children misled and lives ruined. As someone in a pastoral ministry, I receive people back after 30 years of destructive wandering.
April 30, 2014 at 3:50 pm
St Augustine, the Doctor of Grace says, “For the effectiveness of God’s mercy cannot be in the power of man to frustrate, if he will have none of it. If God wills to have mercy on men, He can call them in a way that is suited to them, so that they will be moved to understand and to follow… God has mercy on no man in vain. He calls the man on whom He has mercy in the way He knows will suit him, so that he will not refuse the call.” [To Simplician 2:13] Later, he says, “Who would dare to affirm that God has no method of calling whereby even Esau might have applied his mind and yoked his will to the faith in which Jacob was justified?”
Thus Scripture says, “I will have mercy on whom I will, and I will be merciful to whom it shall please Me” (Exod. 33:19) This is the great mystery of Election.
April 30, 2014 at 4:07 pm
The Church of the 1950s was pretty much the Church described by Maurice Blondel forty years earlier: “First, the scholastic ideology, which still exclusively dominates, includes the study neither of religious psychology nor of the subjective facts that convey to the conscience the action of the objective realities whose presence in us Revelation indicates; this ideology only considers as legitimate the examination of what objectively informs us about these realities as designated and defined. Moreover, and especially, everything is instinctively resisted that would limit the authoritarianism born of an exclusive extrinsicism. And, without formulating it, the conception is entertained according to which everything in religious life comes from on high and from without. Only the priesthood is active before a purely passive and receptive flock”
As a footnote, it is worth recalling that, when he was asked by the Archbishop of Aix for his assessment of Blondel’s philosophy, St Pius X replied “I am sure of Blondel’s orthodoxy, and I charge you to tell him so.” Cardinal de Lubac called Blondel the man who “launched the decisive attack on the dualist theory that was destroying Christian thought.”
April 30, 2014 at 5:11 pm
I certainly understand your angst as well as your ambivalence about continuing, but I sincerely hope and pray that you continue. Your blog has been a daily read for me for quite some time now. Your posts help me focus, concentrate and articulate generalized observances and feelings about the contemporary church.
Born in 1949, I graduated from Catholic grade school in 1963. At that time the convents and seminaries were full and the church was still an informative influence on the broader culture. After graduating from a Jesuit high school in 1967 and Jesuit college in 1971 (when the Jesuits were, for the most part, still Catholic) the winds of change were beginning to sweep across the church. Many of the younger, and a few of the older, Jesuit scholastics and priests left the order. What was happening to the Society of Jesus was indicative of what was happening throughout the Church. By the 80s the winds of change had become truly destructive. The convents and seminaries were emptying and a significant portion of those who remained in them became perverse influences inside the Church. The Church is still reaping the bitter harvest produced by this cohort. Under their direction the Church abdicated its role as a positive, informative influence on the broader culture and began a regression to the norm of a rapidly deteriorating culture.
I am greatly encouraged by the young priests now coming out of the seminaries and by the new communities of religious women that are growing rapidly, but the hill remains steep and they need all the help they can get. Your blog is a voice of reason helping support them and build momentum in a positive direction. Again, I hope and pray that you continue.
April 30, 2014 at 5:46 pm
Right with you, Pat. Can see it coming, not sure where the Lord wants me to be.
April 30, 2014 at 6:11 pm
I was your contemporary then. I remember the new young priest walking up and down the aisles telling us how wonderful the new mass was going to be and everything. From daily Mass at Catholic school in grade school to weekly Mass during school to a monthly and by the time I graduated from Catholic high school, we no longer had Masses during the week. I came into adulthood thinking I could be a 'good' Catholic but reject what I did not like about the Church. That attitude never changed for many. It did for me: Our Lady found me.
We see the hierarchy persecuting faithful priests still and even faithful Orders like the FFI who are squashed with NO charges against them. But a heretical priest in Ireland is restored, the 'nuns on the bus' can continue on, the 'nuns' who are deathscorts at abortion mills have impunity. Terrible and no catechesis is the order of the day at many parishes still. It is not looking good. The pope says confusing things and often, it appears, opposite things so we are continually wondering where he is coming from. He does not seem to like the most faithful of Catholics, calling them names and so forth. That is disturbing. Yet we cannot control any of that and have our own soul to save. May we be faithful and learn our faith, remain in a state of grace always, and be lights to others.
April 30, 2014 at 6:14 pm
It says there is nothing new under the sun and can we expect any higher percentage of bishops to have that sort of courage now.
April 30, 2014 at 6:20 pm
Read what happened to the IHM nuns in Los Angeles in the 60s: http://www.culturewars.com/CultureWars/1999/rogers.html
Teaching and nursing sisters have disappeared and instead we have new age, wicca, and lesbianism in many modernist aging convents. So many of them helped destroy the faith of millions of children over the decades and like some male religious Orders have been a detriment to the faith when they lose their charism and embrace modernist heresies and no longer uphold the truths of the faith, especially in matters of sexual morality.
April 30, 2014 at 6:24 pm
What, you do not like singing about how WE are church and all that and how wonderful WE are?