I saw this on my Facebook wall today:
(Picture of two smiling men in cassock)
Fr. Picot and Br. June Mark
Marian Corps of Saint Pius X Society
visited my house..
The first comment on this post?
God bless the Society of Pius X
When your Resistance organization is so named, that people say "God bless the SSPX" when they hear about your organization -- we have a problem!Of course, it's cheap enough to pray for and wish blessings on others. That's fine. But what if the hard work and edifying example of Resistance priests and brothers led ___ people to get out their checkbooks and write a check to the SSPX, or attend their chapels!
Seriously, this man sounds tempted to attend his local SSPX even if a Resistance chapel were the same distance away, because, "they're united anyhow so it doesn't make a difference", right?
The response of the 2nd man is bad because it expresses enthusiasm, edification, and an emotional/human hope in an organization that has (objectively speaking) hopelessly fallen. We can (and should) pray for anyone and wish them well -- and hold out supernatural hope for them. But this expression "God bless the Society of Pius X" doesn't express *supernatural* hope. It shows a genuine enthusiasm for the organization.
Now for my commentary:
I don't have anything against Fr. Chazal, or the two men who posted these things. They are just going with the flow -- that's what Fr. Chazal calls his group, after all!
But I think it's stupid. Real stupid.
Resistance sounds A) generic B) a bit negative but at least it firmly expresses the divorce from the SSPX organization."SSPX Marian Corps" implies a unity or connection with the Neo-SSPX and in that respect the name utterly fails. Words are meant to convey ideas; they must convey meaning.If words convey no meaning, they are useless. If they convey the OPPOSITE of reality, they are deceptive and harmful!
For example, I say "Traditional Catholic" which conveys a different meaning from "Catholic". The latter is usually a worldly Novus Ordo Catholic, ignorant about his Faith, often with a small family and often on birth control.
Traditional Catholic suggests attendance at a Tridentine Mass, a person who has left his local parish, and certain other things (better informed, not on birth control, gives up meat on Fridays, etc.)
Anyhow, I understand that they had to pick some name in the very beginning, and for a while they went with "SSPX-Strict Observance" or "SSPX- Marian Corps" but
we need to give up on the idea of turning things around in the SSPX at this point.Even Resistance fails in this respect: it doesn't give up on the SSPX. It implies we are a group within the SSPX that are resisting the new liberal direction, as well as the upcoming practical agreement with Rome. But it's a done deal, so we need to pick a new name and LEAVE the SSPX altogether!