Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: jhpb@lancia.att.com Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: more on the new Mass Message-ID: Date: 1 Jul 89 07:06:45 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: AT&T Bell Labs (Liberty Corner) Lines: 54 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Dennis wrote: In the article that I am referring to, Joe issued a litany of polemics about the new mass following Vatican II, that it reflects "reformation theology," that it weakens "catholic beliefs," that catholics have been pursecuted for following the old mass. The problem with all this is that if one is Catholic, one is obliged to obey his spiritual superiors. The bishops found sufficient problems with the old mass to formulate the new one. We are obliged to follow. If the new mass is "more Protestant" than so be it. The Church has certainly a greater responsibility than being simply "un-Protestant" It's supposed to be correct. Obedience to superiors is certainly a fundamental part of the Catholic religion. There's something I would like to point out, though. There is a true and a false notion of obedience. With some virtues, like faith, hope, and charity, sin is only possible in one direction -- defect. You can only have too little faith, you can't have too much. It's not that way with obedience, though. One can sin by excess or defect. Obedience is one of those virtues in which the golden mean has to be observed. There are situations in which not only is it virtuous to disobey, it's downright sinful to obey. What am I to do when my parish priest hands me the notorious Dutch Catechism and tells me to teach the CCD kids from it? I personally would refuse. He has exceeded his authority by trying to order me to teach a mixture of orthodoxy & heresy. We have had more or less excellent priests and bishops in the Catholic Church since the Reformation. Indeed, because of the Reformation. So we have sort of taken for granted the idea that you're supposed to obey your clergy without question. What happens when the clergy goes bad, though? England was once a Catholic nation. How did it become Anglican? Obedience. The bishops obeyed the monarch, the people obeyed the bishops. So beware this idea that one has to obey everything that the clergy orders. At the present time, this is not always to one's spiritual benefit. What am I to think of priests that order the kneelers removed from their churches? What exactly do they think the Blessed Sacrament is? What about the ones that never so much as mention the obligation that every Catholic is under of confessing their sins once a year? etc. It is very important for Catholic laymen to know their catechisms inside out at the present time. If one doesn't know the Faith, one is at the mercy of whatever priest one happens to end up with. Joe Buehler