Borg To The Left Of Me . . .

A while back (quite some time ago, really), we discussed the resemblance of certain dissidents of a Modernist bent to the "Next Generation" Star Trek's arch-nemeses, the Borg.

Call me mean, if you like, but it does kind of fit.  The quasi-Marxist insistence on collectivism (note how often the word "we" appears in most of their hymns) and stretch-or-truncate-to-fit egalitarianism.  Individuals, their individual needs, talents, and wishes are irrelevant.  It's all chopped up and mixed around in a great liturgical blender until it comes out a smooth, even Long Island Iced Tea of heresies with a twist of deconstructionism and a low-fat froth.

But friends, there is another extreme to which one can go.  One that starts with a reaction against all the above.  One that starts off wanting nothing but a sense of holiness, beauty, solemnity, and continuity with those who came before us.

Sounds reasonable enough, yeah?  I agree.  I've been sympathetic to a lot of this.  I hate watered-down, ugly, pedestrian worship, mis-taught catechetics, and seeing ancient ritual replaced with funky-looking moves and gestures that some "professional liturgist" cooked up on the fly 15 minutes before Mass (and expects you to join in).  Sorry, I came in for sanctifying grace, not interpretive dance.

Nevertheless, there are limits.  There exists, on the far edge of this community, a species of Traddy that does not so much love God as hate their fellow man.  They white glove the liturgy, the hierarchy, and worst of all, men's souls.  They sit through Mass, parse through sermons and interviews, memorize ancient books of rubrics that haven't been in force in 50 years, looking for the least imperfection to call somebody on.  And when they find it, they have zero mercy.

Anyone who dares change anything, or get in the way, or does something wrong with his left pinky while elevating the host, is The Enemy Of The Faith and must be opposed at all costs.  It's not hard to find this type yammering on around the Internet.  They have their own sites (which I won't dignify with links), but no one goes there except them and their own ilk, so they evangelize by way of trolling anyone else who comes within their radar. (If you want to find some to look at on your own, just go take a look at whoever's kicking Mark Shea this week*.  Your nose will tell you).

-SPEAKING OF WHICH-

I warn you now, any posts loaded with transparent rhetoric, like "You talkin' to me?" or "I have no idea what you are talking about," or "I neither know, nor have heard of any such persons amongst Traditionalists; are you sure you don't mean 'Modernists?' or anything amounting to, "Why me and not Them?  Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" will be deleted with extreme prejudice.  Possibly tortured first, if in a moment's pique I forget to be charitable.

Why?  Because in Pope Francis' old stomping grounds of Buenos Aires - IN HIS CATHEDRAL - a small mob of these punks disrupted an ecumenical service commemorating the 75th anniversary of Krystallnacht.

I barely have words.  Let me quote Phil Lawler at length while I think of some of my own.

Let me make three requests: 

First, if you disrupt services at a Catholic cathedral, please don’t try to tell me that you’re defending the Catholic faith. 

Second, if you shout out the Rosary to drown out prayers, please don’t tell me you’re honoring the Virgin Mary. 

Third, if you refer to observant Jews as “followers of false gods,” please don’t tell me that you worship the God of Abraham and Isaac.

Oh, wait; one more request:

If you don’t think that the SSPX is in schism, please tell me how to describe a group that claims its own hierarchy, professes its own doctrine, rejects the official teachings of Catholicism, and describes itself as the one true church.

What he said.  Now let me add this:

Thank you, Traddie Daleks, for giving Christ, Catholicism, and your own founder a bad name.  Thank you for rending Christ's body with the same un-civilized mob tactics preferred by the Rainbow Sash movement.  Not only does this make you no better than they are; it makes you ten times worse.  Here are some reasons why.

1. You add to your dissent from the teachings of the past five popes, plus an Ecumenical Council, the heresy of consequentialism, i.e., that you may do evil (to wit, profaning a service approved by competent Ecclesial authority) in order that good may come from it.
2. You use prayer to combat Holy Mother Church, which violates the Second Commandment.  In fact, it goes well beyond blasphemy, right up to the borders of Satanism.
3. Whereas the Rainbow Sashers and their ilk make their protests (however misguided) in the name of both Divine and human compassion, you instead desire to cleanse a holy place of persons whom - contrary to Catholic Doctrine - you dare to call unclean or profane.
4. Whereas agitators for same-sex marriage, women priests, and the like call on us merely to reconsider our position (not understanding the permanency of the doctrines involved), you call for the summary interdict and excommunication of those with whom you disagree.  May I remind you that as Catholics, you're supposed to believe the doctrine of Extra Ecclesia, Nulla Salus - "no salvation outside the Church."  By wishing excommunication on a fellow Catholic, you are wishing the damnation of his soul.  May I remind you that "He who curses his adversary, curses his own soul." (Sirach 21: 27)

You know what?  I hope the Holy Father does kick it old-school for your sakes.  I hope he speaks Ex Cathedra, declaring, pronouncing, and defining that the teaching of Nostra Aetate concerning Jews, Protestants, Muslims and Non-Christians is revealed by God and to be held universally by all the faithful.  I hope he alters Canon Law and brings back the Anathema, just so he can declare it on anyone who dares say that the Jewish people are accursed, or that Non-Catholics don't have the same right to religious freedom the rest of us desire and deserve.

Note that reactionaries, like the Daleks, pick fights with enemies capable of defeating them over and over again down the centuries.

I hope you come to your senses.  Otherwise, I'm going to have to start behaving myself, so I don't have to spend hell with the likes of you.

Borg to the left of me. Daleks to the right.

Here I am, stuck in the middle with the Jews.

And you know what?  There's nowhere I'd rather be.

*As I write this, Mark actually doesn't have any comments on that particular post.  Trust me, though, he will.  The reactionaries' habits are so ingrained that they automatically stamp and whinny every time he says, "Blücher!"

Going To The Dogs

I'm more of a cat person, myself.  I'm told Pope Benedict is, too.

Tip o' the Fedora to Father Z. for this story.

Down under, where dissent seems to be working overtime to undo the graces bestowed by World Youth Day 2008, some lovely folks have gathered around a suspended priest and decided to pass out Holy Communion to anything with a mouth.

FATHER Greg Reynolds wants his church of dissident Catholics to welcome all - ''every man and his dog'', one might say, risking the non-inclusive language he deplores - but even he was taken aback when that was put to the test during Mass yesterday.
A first-time visitor arrived late at the Inclusive Catholics service in South Yarra with a large and well-trained German shepherd. When the consecrated bread and wine were passed around, the visitor took some bread and fed it to his dog.
Apart from one stifled gasp, those present showed admirable presence of mind - but the dog was not offered the cup!
Father Reynolds, a Melbourne priest for 32 years, launched Inclusive Catholics earlier this year. He now ministers to up to 40 people at fortnightly services alternating between two inner-suburban Protestant churches.
The congregation includes gay men, former priests, abuse victims and many women who feel disenfranchised, but it is optimistic rather than bitter.

Not like us "bitter clingers," I'm sure.  Everything's always happy in the Church of the Warm and Fuzzy - Extremely fuzzy, in this case.

This is soooOOOOOoo just the kind of thing I love to see.  You've got a suspended priest performing illicit Masses in Protestant churches (must be that whole "enemy of my enemy" thing), albeit doing as little of it as he can and have the Mass remain valid.  Both he and his congregation insist that their sins are not sins, in fact are meritorious in some cases.  Odd they should need a Savior, no?  In fact, I doubt they believe they do need Him.  They certainly don't seem to believe that He will come to judge the living, and the dead, and the world by fire.  That's just ooh, so judgmental.  Hence, the Eucharist doesn't really mean all that much - not like it's the source and summit of our worship or anything - so they pass out the Eucharist to all and sundry, and they, in turn, give it to their dogs.  Ironic that "dog" is "God" spelt backwards.  Furthermore, just as at Mass we receive Christ twice over, in the words of Scripture and in Holy Communion, these folks have dishonored both the Liturgy of the Word and of the Eucharist.  For Christ explicitly said, "Give not that which is holy to dogs" (Matt. 7:6), so it's obvious that they respect neither Christ's teaching nor His Person.

Pray tell, by what stretch of the imagination does one offer worship to Christ by spitting in His face and making a mockery of Him?

Congratulations, Father Reynolds!  You've just won the Abbé Guibourg Award for Best Black
Mass of the Year!

See, when you desecrate the Blessed Sacrament in the name of your faith and make a mockery of the Liturgy, you are de facto meeting all the elements necessary for Satanic worship.  Now all those misinformed Protestants who think Catholics are really devil-worshipers can look to you, Father Reynolds, and know their fears are confirmed.  I sure hope you're proud!

Oh, and btw . . . your visitor, who actually gave Communion to his dog?  If he ever was officially Catholic (y'know, baptized and all that), he'll be glad to know that he's probably incurred an automatic excommunication, reserved to the Holy See.  That's right!  If he wants to confess this sin and be absolved, the penance and absolution have to come from the Pope his own self!

Of course, since you lot seem to want as little to do with the Pope as possible, I don't suppose you'll be knocking on his door any time soon.  But hey, we'll leave the light on in the sanctuary for you.  Meanwhile, enjoy this preview of a special liturgy coming by way of your local ordinary . . .just for you!