Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Fighting Errors in the Modern World => Topic started by: Matthew on September 30, 2023, 09:56:17 AM
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The truth is of paramount importance.
It's not just important to be in the right place, the right position, doing the right thing -- but you need to have as good a grasp on the truth as possible, so you're doing it for ALL THE RIGHT REASONS and NONE of the WRONG reasons.
That applies to the Traditional Movement, choosing to homeschool your kids, and countless other situations.
Just look at all the Trads who attended SSPX for years, and then when the SSPX changed into the FSSP, they had no problem with the whole thing, because they never understood the SSPX, its mission, or +ABL in the first place! They were in the right place (the pews of the SSPX) for the wrong reasons (convenience, smells & bells, social reasons, business contacts, etc.)
You could homeschool your kids (good!) because we need to totally isolate them from the world (bad!) Eventually, that will come back to bite you.
Likewise, you could be Trad (in any group) but thinking something erroneous like, "everyone in the Novus Ordo is going to Hell", or "the Novus Ordo can't ever be valid". Again, that will come back to bite you in various ways. The only question is: how specifically. Maybe you'll be lacking in charity towards those who haven't found Tradition yet. Etc.
But see my point?
You have to not only do the right thing, but for PRECISELY the right reasons, and for NONE of the WRONG reasons. You can work off erroneous reasons for months, even years -- but EVENTUALLY push will come to shove, and those WRONG REASONS will surface, and cause problems.
It's like Our Lord said about the foundations -- if you build your house upon sand, it will crash down. It needs to be founded on a rock (the Truth) to endure.
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It's like Our Lord said about the foundations -- if you build your house upon sand, it will crash down. It needs to be founded on a rock (the Truth) to endure.
We have many with houses of sand that will come crashing down, likely upon their own heads. The near future will be very tragic.
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I guess the error I'm attacking here is the error that "ideas don't matter".
"He's attending the Tridentine Mass. He's all good. Don't worry about him or what he believes."
No, it does matter. The downfall of the SSPX in 2012 proved this. The tree was shaken, and many pieces of rotten fruit fell to the ground.
For example, one man might attend a nice Trad chapel because it's literally the closest "Catholic Church" to his house. Hey, it could happen. Someone has to live nearby! And then the chapel moves, and he stops going. See how his foundation was rotten? He appeared to be doing the right thing, going to a Trad chapel with a very solid position on the Crisis. But he wasn't part of it -- he was only superficially adhering to that chapel.
That's a simplistic, extreme example, but there are more realistic ones.
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I guess the error I'm attacking here is the error that "ideas don't matter".
"He's attending the Tridentine Mass. He's all good. Don't worry about him or what he believes."
No, it does matter. The downfall of the SSPX in 2012 proved this. The tree was shaken, and many pieces of rotten fruit fell to the ground.
For example, one man might attend a nice Trad chapel because it's literally the closest "Catholic Church" to his house. Hey, it could happen. Someone has to live nearby! And then the chapel moves, and he stops going. See how his foundation was rotten? He appeared to be doing the right thing, going to a Trad chapel with a very solid position on the Crisis. But he wasn't part of it -- he was only superficially adhering to that chapel.
That's a simplistic, extreme example, but there are more realistic ones.
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Yes. And a lot of people attend the traditional Mass because they like the Latin liturgy, but not because they see anything intrinsically wrong with the Novus Ordo. They're just modernists with a penchant for Latin.
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Yes. And a lot of people attend the traditional Mass because they like the Latin liturgy, but not because they see anything intrinsically wrong with the Novus Ordo. They're just modernists with a penchant for Latin.
It's possible that for some of those whom you describe above, they may see that the New Mass is man-centered, and the Old Mass is God-centered. Or, they may not even consciously realize this. But in any case, at least they see that something is intrinsically right about the Old Mass. Surely that's a step in the right direction?
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It's possible that for some of those whom you describe above, they may see that the New Mass is man-centered, and the Old Mass is God-centered. Or, they may not even consciously realize this. But in any case, at least they see that something is intrinsically right about the Old Mass. Surely that's a step in the right direction?
There are gradations in between "the best/ideal motive" and "the worst possible motive".
But the better one's motive, or foundation, the smaller the chance it will come to be a problem in the future.
The worse the foundation, the easier it will be to topple everything over. You want it to require a 8.0 earthquake to bring everything down, not a strong gust of wind.
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What's wrong with wanting to shield your kid from the world via homeschooling? Or was your point *entirely* shield? Obviously there's a bunch of bad stuff in our public and private schools that you don't want kids exposed to. Also homeschooling is just better imo
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What's wrong with wanting to shield your kid from the world via homeschooling? Or was your point *entirely* shield? Obviously there's a bunch of bad stuff in our public and private schools that you don't want kids exposed to. Also homeschooling is just better imo
I'm talking about an exaggerated form of shielding, well into their late teens. The kind that would be inadvisable.
I thought that would go without saying. I homeschool my 9 kids.
Was my point "entirely shield"? Yes, because I did say, "because we need to totally isolate them from the world (bad!)"
I choose my words well. Without the totally, it would have a complete different meaning (anti-Homeschool).
I said totally, as in 100%. As in, the children don't get to see or meet anyone outside the household, until they are 18.
That would be imprudent and stupid. Agreed?
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There are gradations in between "the best/ideal motive" and "the worst possible motive".
But the better one's motive, or foundation, the smaller the chance it will come to be a problem in the future.
The worse the foundation, the easier it will be to topple everything over. You want it to require a 8.0 earthquake to bring everything down, not a strong gust of wind.
Yes, and sometimes it might only be a motive of wanting to do the right thing, even though one doesn't always know exactly what that is. It's not always clear at first.
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This may come as a shock to some of you but there are Catholics who only know of the Novus Ordo mass and associated "sacraments" and through no fault of their own don't know of the traditional movement. How do I know? Because that's how I entered the Church--through my local parish in the 90s. I was an unbaptized pagan who God called to the Catholic Faith and within a year of entering I knew intuitively something was off. I began a search for the "real" Catholic Church and found it a decade later. I attended my first Tridentine Mass in 2003 and learned about the SSPX in 2012. I was conditionally re-confirmed by Bishop Williamson after he was expelled. However, I personally have known some very saintly people who I believe died in a state of grace who never attended a Latin Mass in their life.
So someone who started out in the Novus Ordo went on to bring 3 children into Catholic tradition. One of those children became a traditional priest and possibly thousands of souls through future generations will become traditional Catholics. And it began with me attending a poorly conducted RCIA program in the 90s.
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Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about guilt or blame here.
I'm talking about objectively strong foundations of truth. I'm talking academically and philosophically here.