EVIL FRUITS OF THE NEW MASS SUCH AS: A PAPAL SLAP ON THE HAND

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"No one comes in here during the week!"

Last Sunday's Mass had just finished, and Father was talking to our wonderful flower lady (make that our only flower lady). She was bringing in a new arrangement of artificial flowers to replace the amazing fresh hydrangeas she'd done for Christmas Day, and Father wondered why she'd bothered, probably because he was about to leave for two weeks' holiday, leaving the parish to the tender mercies of the lay persons entrusted with leading 'paraliturgies' for the next two Sundays. 

I'm fairly certain that as usual, there was no arrangement made for unlocking the church in Father's absence, and that was confirmed when in defiance of Father's decree I went there on Monday as I often do, with my own key, for silent prayer (contemplation), the Rosary and organdizing (practising my next playlist). 

I've visited the Blessed Sacrament like that every day for a couple of weeks. I'm usually there for at least an hour. During that time, no one has entered the church. When there is a weekday Mass, it's attended by one or two parishioners.

A former parishioner visiting family here has made comment on Facebook on the dismal turnout at Christmas Day Mass, compared with thirteen years ago when she left Central Hawke's Bay. It seems she was right in speculating that everyone might have been at the Vigil Mass in St Patrick's, Waipawa and maybe that's because on Christmas morning at St Joseph's Waipukurau, I'm at the organ. (I hope I being facetious.) 

But you get my drift. Attendance at Christmas Eve Mass only is about as Catholic as a Christmas tree or a turkey. It's one of the things you do at Christmas time.

For years I've been thinking and have even said, a couple of times, that we don't deserve a priest and we don't deserve the Mass. Well, now the Mass has been taken from us. 

Fundamentally, it's not our fault. For years Father has told us there's nothing we can do nothing to merit salvation, so we've concluded there's no point in attending weekday Mass (and by the same logic, no point going to Mass on Sunday, either). Last Sunday he unwittingly put his finger on the spot, when he told us - not for the first time - that 'fear' as in 'fear of the Lord' is a bad translation. We mustn't fear the Lord; the correct translation, said Father, is not "fear" but "reverence". 

Ahem. Here goes. 

• 'Reverence' means 'deep respect'. 'Fear' means 'an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, harm or harm'. Can you see any similarity in these definitions? No. But you can see that 'reverence' is a pleasant emotion. It's 'nice'. This phony definition of fear is a trademark of the Church of Nice and the Novus Ordo. 
• Scripture tells us that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10).
• The Lord Himself tells us He has power to condemn us to Hell: "As long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me. And these shall go into everlasting punishment" (Mt 25:45b, 46).
• So we begin our spiritual journey by fearing the Lord's punishment (a few Redemptorist sermons of the old sort would be very helpful). 
• To avoid the Lord's punishment we learn His commandments, and those of His Church, and we learn to obey them.
• In learning to obey His commandments we come to know the Lord, who seeing our efforts rewards us in ways that induce us to love Him.
• In loving the Lord, we become wise.

Fundamentally, I believe it's not Father's fault either: he's been on the same spiritual starvation diet as ours ever since the implementation of the Novus Ordo, the 'New Mass', the Mass in the vernacular. 

"By their fruits you shall know them," said Jesus. "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit" (Mt 7: 15-17).

Do we really believe thede words of Jesus Christ, the word of life? If we do, we'll recognise as sour and truly evil the fruits of the New Mass: 

• the huge drop in Mass attendance and reception of the Sacraments; 
• the huge drop in vocations to the priesthood and religious life; 
• the closing of churches; amalgamation of parishes; 
• Intercommunion
• disappearance (in 'Godzone' at least) of public displays of faith such as Eucharistic processions; 
• Almost complete lack of preaching Catholic Tradition and dogma, especially in relation to contraception and abortion;
• Almost complete lack of witnessing to Catholic Tradition and dogma in the media, especially in relation to abortion;
• reception of the Blessed Sacrament in the hand while waiting in a queue, like it's a cafeteria; 
• banishment of the tabernacle from the church proper, or its sidelining;
• 'Eucharistic Ministers' distributing Holy Communion;
• Lay people leading 'paraliturgies' and giving 'Reflections' in place of the Mass;
• The sacred vessels abandoned on the credence table, unpurified;
• The handling of the sacred vessels by lay people not appointed to the ministry;
• Talk and laughter in church
• Eruption of above, accompanied by gallivanting between pews to shake hands and hug and kiss, at the 'Sign of Peace' while the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the altar and the faithful are preparing to receive their Lord and Saviour;
• The celebrant often abandoning the Blessed Sacrament at the Sign of Peace to join the melee;
• The celebrant chatting or even making jokes during the Mass;
• Banal, hard-to-sing, unmusical 'music';
• The celebrant distracting the congregation from their thanksgiving by blessing children immediately after Holy Communion.

That's not all, of course; that's just what comes off the top of my head. Do feel free to add to the list. None of these offences occurred during the traditional Latin Mass, which is still attended by millions of Catholics in ever-increasing numbers, of an ever-decreasing average age.

But I've never witnessed a public demonstration of the evil fruits of the Novus Ordo, and could never have imagined any dereliction of the Papal Office like that which was beamed into the world's sitting rooms this evening, of the Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God, Pope Francis, angrily slapping the hand of one of the aforesaid servants, in St Peter's Square on New Year's Eve.

The Scripture reading for this evening's Divine Office on the feast of Ss Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church, goes like this: "The wisdom which comes from above is marked chiefly indeed by its purity, but also by its peacefulness; it is courteous and ready to be convinced, always taking the better part; it carries mercy with it and a harvest of all that is good; it is uncensorious and without affectation" (Jas 3:17-18).

Please pray for the Church and for Pope Francis.

Philippa O'Neill says:

·        Oh how I was saddened by this act. Glad he has apologised. I would love to know what She said to him.... did she ask him why he sold the Chinese Catholic church down the drain for the communist party? She blessed herself before he came towards her and I wonder if what she was saying to him angered him more than her pulling his hand. 

     Helen Carver says: 

     Pope Francis is the first to admit that he is far from perfect he has apologised no one can know what it is like to walk in his (brown) shoes. 

n     I say: Yes, he apologised, as of course he simply had to, But he hedged his apology by saying, in effect, that we're all guilty of losing patience - and we are; but St Teresa of Avila taught that we must guard against excusing ourselves, that the Gospel way of accepting humiliation is to imitate Our Lord before the Tribunal: "Jesus held His peace".
 
      Bruce Tichbon says:

I     I often wonder if the Church would be better off or worse off or the same if it had not introduced the Novus Ordo Mass and not demoted the Latin Mass?  Of course I should be asking the question would the Church be saving more souls.

      And I wonder if the Church would be better or worse off (or saving more souls) if it stayed true to its doctrine (as given us by Christ) and was not trying to become more adapted to the 'spirit of the age'?

I    If we were doing things differently would we have more children and young adults at Mass (parishioners and seminarians)?

I'    I'll try to keep praying. 

      I say: 

     

     As you may have inferred, I am utterly convinced now that had the Church retained the TLM, it would have saved millions more souls.

     Because we have no Mass here at the moment I went to the church, turned the light on in the crib, turned on the star and included the Litany of the Saints (unexpurgated, pre-Vat II, the version used for private prayer) in my morning prayer.

,    And I wondered how many more souls would have been saved - and disasters like the Australian conflagration averted - if the Church were still praying that glorious Litany. 

     Try it. You'll like it 
     
     Philippa O'Neill says: 

     I'm convinced too, Julia.

Bob Gill says: 

      I wondered too if Australia Catholics had even resorted to asking St Mary MacKillop, their first Australian born saint, to pray for the land of her birth.  


      I say: 

      Not if my Lay Carmelite Moderator in Australia is anything to go. St Mary MacKillop isn't mentioned in the 'Prayers for Our People and Our Nation' dispatched to all Lay Carmelites in NZ and Oz a few days ago. As for a Litany of the Saints, I notice our Patron St Elijah has been demoted from 'Saint' to 'Prophet'.
      
      And there was not even a hint of prayers of reparation and atonement for Australia's sins, especially of murder of the unborn and of blasphemy, which have insulted the Divinity for so long. 

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