CathInfo.com

I agree with St. Ignatius that many of us have grown too soft. We expect "push notifications" like on our smartphone. We expect THEM to come to US, carried in on a silver platter. We don't want to have to WORK FOR IT anymore.

I do want to underline my point about chapel publicity. The chapel I coordinate (St. Dominic's) has a website, Facebook page, CathInfo exposure, and very high Google search position for many important search terms. Stella Maris and other Bp. Zendejas chapels don't have a website at all. So, naturally, St. Dominic's should be bursting at the seams with parishioners, right?

Wrong.

I was thinking about it some more, and it occurred to me: the only thing St. Dominic's gets from all the publicity (that Stella Maris probably does not -- it is almost exclusively word-of-mouth) is that we get LOTS of in-and-out, revolving door visitors. One might call them "low quality" since they don't last. They easily found the chapel, and just as easily left it: Those new to Tradition, Home Aloners, Novus Ordo curiosity seekers, those who barely belong here, Grandmas who want their 8 year old grandchildren baptized (you can imagine how Catholic the parents are!), Hispanics from Seguin 15 min. away who think driving 45 min. to San Antonio for the SSPX is too much trouble, etc. (And yes, I include Home Aloners in this list. They find our chapel, and we assume they'll be coming regularly. NOPE! They're so used to being home alone on Sunday, they are happy to continue this habit. They come a few times, and then reduce their frequency to once a decade.)

Don't get me wrong: all these categories of people are welcome here. I'm not running a cult or a club. It's for any Catholics wanting true sacraments and to be taught the unchanging Catholic Faith. It's not my place OR intention to gatekeep.

Though they come from many different backgrounds, they all leave -- usually after one visit -- because essentially they don't belong.  Some even leave before coming once! They don't understand or fervently support +ABL's movement. Or they aren't used to going to church anymore, and have completely lost the habit. NOTE: We are extremely welcoming here. We are as polite and pleasant as can be to any newcomers. And I make it my mission as a coordinator to make things run as smoothly as possible. As it turns out, the music almost always turns out beautifully.

But they always leave on their own, for some reason. I can't think of any super controversial sermons being delivered, either (e.g., the h0Ɩ0cαųst, 9/11, women in pants). It's like they just figure out it's not for them.


That's probably who Bp. Z is "missing out on" by not advertising more broadly. I don't know what else to possibly conclude. And I certainly can't bring myself to criticize him, as if he's really missing out. I've seen what he's "missing out" on. It's not much; trust me!

So the reason for keeping US Resistance contact information secret is that hardly anyone will be interested anyway, and some of those who might be interested won't really understand the Resistance, so it's best to keep out the undesirables, if possible.

And the other reason is that, given that we have it too easy these days, it's okay to have to make someone work to find out the contact information. That is, if they REALLY want to know about the Resistance, they'll find a way. I don't really understand that, in the information age when computers offer easy access to information. Here on the forum, we have easy access to so much information. But not Resistance contact info.

It's like telling someone that wants to go to a faraway destination that they can't take their car, even though they have a perfectly good car, but that they must take the greyhound bus instead, if they really want to go to that destination badly enough; and that they must not really want to go there if they have to drive a car to do it. Not a great analogy, but it's all I can think of right now.

Maybe someone else can think of a better one.

That is a gigantic leap to make from "Any Catholic who wants information on Masses and events to be clearly and easily accessible". You're right in that they can get information off Cathinfo if they look hard enough, but you made this thread in response to another thread on Cathinfo. So you're simultaneously telling people they can find the information by asking here, while also giving out to people for asking here. All because simply finding a Mass and Sacraments for your family apparently has to be some investigation and struggle, for whatever reason.

You're making a leap or connection that wasn't there.

In the paragraph you quoted, I was talking about the "new SSPX Catholics" filling the pews in 2020 who weren't there in 2010. Where were they? Why didn't they go ahead and join in 2010, when the SSPX was still in the "before" stage? Then I listed some ways in which the SSPX changed. Any person who *requires* those changes as a prerequisite to get on board the SSPX is not a real Trad, and not to be treasured by any Trad organization.

I also want to clarify because you are very confused: I wasn't criticizing anyone for asking for Mass location/time information on CathInfo. Don't be ridiculous. I'm not two-faced.

I get upset when people say un-called-for things about the good bishops of the Resistance, yes. That's a different matter altogether.

I'm sorry if there was some nuance involved in what I said today, but it does seem to be eternally true that "easy come, easy go". The easier it is to come by something (say, a Tridentine Mass in the 1950's) the more human beings take it for granted. What is the answer, to make everything difficult? Who knows. It's just one of those things to ponder.
Also, you don't get something for nothing. When you work for something, there's an appreciation there (and a commitment) that you simply can't get when something comes easy. That is also completely true, regardless of how much anyone likes it.

Easier is not always better. 

It is easier to watch "The Passion of the Christ" than to make a 20 minute meditation. It is easier to watch a bunch of video tutorials than to get out the equipment and practice/play around with it yourself (for ANY skill or hobby). When you spend 20 minutes trying to troubleshoot a problem, you always remember that solution for next time!

Kids have low test scores? "We must not be making learning easy enough. Throw a few more million dollars into computers and tablets!" Or just maybe there are other reasons for those low test scores... Making things easier or more accessible isn't always the answer.

Churchmen were even convinced in the 1960's that the Church wasn't accessible enough if it wanted to expand further and be even more successful. They were convinced that the Church needed to be brought down to man's level so it could blossom and expand its numbers in a "new springtime". We all know how that went! The Church asked for less and less -- and people tuned out more and more and many even left the Church altogether.