According to a report from Public Radio International:
On Christmas Eve … Throngs of Israeli Jews clamored at the gate of the Dormition Abbey about an hour and a half early to get a good seat at Midnight Mass. Seats were snatched up the moment the doors opened, and Israelis sat cross-legged on every available inch of the mosaic floor.
Praise God! Right? Uh… not so fast.
They were there not as believers, but as voyeurs. “It’s a nice show,” said one dreadlocked Israeli university student in attendance. “It’s a good choreography, you know. I can appreciate a good show.”
“A good show.” LOL! Even this Jewish kid can see what generations of churchmen have refused to acknowledge, the Novus Ordo communicates in its perceptible signs anything but solemn propitiatory sacrifice.
Bear in mind, we’re not talking about a puppet liturgy in this case. Video excerpts of the Christmas Mass at Dormition Abbey can be viewed here, and if you care to watch it, consider well the comments of the Jewish interviewee. They indicate that celebrating the Novus Ordo in a beautiful church and dressing it up with incense and choir music isn’t enough to change the message being communicated to those there present; “it’s a nice show.”
Contrast this with the conversion of St. Elizabeth Anne Seton who, as a protestant, was so overwhelmed with awe at Holy Mass that she was moved to enter the Holy Catholic Church. I digress…
The Jewish crowd at Midnight Mass presents a delicate challenge. Father Gregory, the abbot, said he has a strong awareness of the fact that those who attend are the people of Israel, or what he calls the original people of God.
Catholic translation: “Original” here means the chosen people who rejected Christ and therefore their own God, and Fr. Gregory sure as hell isn’t going to go out of his way to do anything to challenge them, much less invite them to reconsider.
But he is careful not to proselytize. Israeli law restricts missionary activity in the country, and the Catholic Church also discourages it. Centuries of forced conversion by Christians in the past have made Jews and Catholics sensitive to this.
Seriously? Only a moron of magnificent proportions considers preaching within the confines of a church, in the context of a liturgical rite, to those who willingly walked through the door, a form of “proselytism.” This is nothing more than a cop out on the part of a wimp cleric who is unwilling to carry out the mission that Christ gave to His Church.
It is true, however, that the “Catholic Church” such as it is being run [into the ground] these days does discourage missionary activity, at least as the Apostles and those who lived in the nineteen centuries that followed would recognize it.
“I always try to preach quite carefully,” said Father Gregory Collins. “I talk about the Jewish roots of Jesus. I do stress that, as Christians, we believe Jesus is the son of God and the Messiah, and I acknowledge that most of the people in the church don’t believe that. But I think it’s not time for theological discussions. It’s time for celebrating the birth of Christ. And the area where we can all agree is Jesus’ summary of Jewish law: love God and your neighbor as yourself.”
Oh, yes… we must be very careful, Father, lest some Jewish kid in pursuit of a little entertainment comes to the shocking realization that the Catholic Church is the solitary means of salvation established by Our Blessed Lord!
This is one of my pet peeves; milquetoast churchmen (and the Church is littered with them) who feel the need to preface objective truth with, “as Christians, we believe.” Perhaps we should take up a collection in order to purchase Father Gregory a pair of Christmas balls before next year’s “show.”
If nothing else, he can raffle them off as “kitsch,” which is, after all, “half of Christmas.”
“Everyone loves ‘Silent Night,’” said Collins. “I personally think Silent Night is the most terrible kitsch, and the most sentimental and overplayed melody. But it’s Christmas, and half of Christmas is kitsch to begin with. So I think people come because they enjoy the sentimentality of the traditional Christmas.”
If you’ve somehow managed not to puke, congratulations.
This so-called ‘father’ is among legions, with his confused, evil mentality……it can only come from the ‘Father of Lies’.
The glory of the ‘new church of men’……Miserere!
Pitiful!
“Centuries of forced conversion by Christians”???
Seriously?!
I watched the video of the Abbey’s Christmas Mass and “loved” the female monks–or rather, female alter servers in monastic albs.
Cf. http://catholicism.org/why-not-just-ask-the-taize-community-to-become-catholic.html
Why Not Just Ask the Taize Community to Become Catholic?
Posted By Brian Kelly On December 30, 2013
Is the “theology of conversion” to the Catholic Faith so taboo that there is now no call for it? Some confused Christians of good will are just waiting to be asked. Just waiting! And they’ve been waiting for half a century, saying in their hearts “Please do not tell me to be ecumenical, invite me to the marriage feast where I can receive the Bread of Life.”
Continuing a practice of his predecessor, Pope Francis has sent a message to the youth gathered at the Taizé Community’s annual meeting to persevere in their efforts for Christian unity.
Catholic Culture: The ecumenical monastic community’s gathering, which is taking place from December 28 to January 1 in Alsace (France) and Ortenau (Germany), is devoted to the theme, “seek visible communion among all who love Christ.” An estimated 25,000-30,000 youth are in attendance.
“You are aware that the division among Christians is a formidable obstacle to the accomplishment of the mission entrusted to the Church and that ‘the credibility of the Christian proclamation would be much greater if Christians went beyond their divisions’” (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 244), Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said in conveying the papal message. “The Pope shares with you the conviction that we can learn so much from each other, because the realities that unite us are many.”
My comment on the above and your post: “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. “Goose” not only applies to the the Pope and his new Secretary of State and “gander” not only to the Fr. Abbot but also respectively to non-Catholics at the former and non-Christians at the latter; thus, rendering the aphorism as “What’s not good for the geese is not good for the ganders.”
That was a missed opportunity for Father to quote Lumen Fidei, #15:
“‘Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad’ (Jn 8:56). According to these words of Jesus, Abraham’s faith pointed to him; in some sense it foresaw his mystery. So Saint Augustine understood it when he stated that the patriarchs were saved by faith, not faith in Christ who had come but in Christ who was yet to come, a faith pressing towards the future of Jesus. Christian faith is centred on Christ; it is the confession that Jesus is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead (cf. Rom 10:9). All the threads of the Old Testament converge on Christ; he becomes the definitive ‘Yes’ to all the promises, the ultimate basis of our ‘Amen’ to God (cf. 2 Cor 1:20).”
For whom were these words meant if not Jews?
Regarding the tossing of one’s cookies I was doing barely well until the last quotation by Father Collins.
No wonder we had heresies in the past. If the local priest is theologically impotent, or missing a pair, you are out of luck. Even with clear teaching available today by the web, and the catechism, we still have the scourge of modernism. There may be only one answer. Redirect your donations to sources that are authentically catholic. When the gravy train stops, change will begin in earnest.
“But he is careful not to proselytize. Israeli law restricts missionary activity in the country, and the Catholic Church also discourages it. Centuries of forced conversion by Christians in the past have made Jews and Catholics sensitive to this.”
## Bad logic.
1. The abuse of a good thing does not take away its proper use – if it did, the Church would long ago have disbanded.
2. The sins of Catholics – *however great* – cannot exhaust the Goodness of God. If they could, the Church would long ago have disbanded.
3. Preaching the Gospel is a duty laid on the Church, by Christ Himself, Who is the God-Man. The Church is not at liberty to share the Gospel with the whole world; she is obliged to do so, by God Himself. And that obligation has never been relaxed by God.
4. If the Gospel is a “Gospel of Life”, that is, of eternal Life, it is cruelty worthy of the devil not to preach it. For it is the God-appointed, God-given, God-commanded, God-worthy, & God-glorifying message of eternal Life. No news could possibly be more valuable, or more powerful in good.
5. Not to hear it is to risk damnation – so to refuse to preach it or to prevent others doing so, is the reverse of Christian. To Hell with what the Popes say – what does Christ say on this matter ? They betray Christ & destroy their own authority, if they command Catholics to disobey Him.
6. Since when did the laws of states justly oblige Catholics to disobey Christ ? Israel is just one absurd nation among others, and opposes Christ the King at its peril. The God who destroyed the murderous “Thousand-Year Reich” can destroy all tyrannies on earth; He will shatter them in His Wrath – Israel, and the Papacy, included. The Gospel is not the Church’s property, but God’s Who has obliged the Church to share it – He says “Preach !”, so it is not entitled to say “Preach not”. It will go very badly with the Papacy if it defies Christ. Godzilla is a harmless soft toy by comparison.
7. The Gospel is not some drivel from the Vatican – it is a power that would make a planet-killer bomb look like a pop-gun. Except that this power is the power of God, which is incomparably greater and more excellent & wonderful & good than any silly explosives. Anyone with the gall to presume to try to discourage the preaching of it, shows he has not the foggiest clue what it is, or how valuable it is.
8. That discouragement implies that “the Gospel of God” is just another human ideology.
Blooper to correct:
“The Church is not at liberty to share….”
should be
“The Church is not at liberty *not* to share….”
Good comment, Jimmy.
I’d just like to note that ALL of the sins called out by Christ in Mt 25 were sins of omission. How many sins of omission may this good priest and others like him commit in such situations, considering their station in life? I often wonder what my own sins of omission are, even just being a lay Catholic?
Paul
When is the last time a pope publicly and explicitly called ANYONE to conversion to Christ’s One True Church? Please if you know, let me know.
And I’m not looking for a generic call to conversion that could be uttered by any run of the mill protestant preacher, I’m looking for an explicit call to conversion to the One True Church of Christ for eternal salvation. Was it Pope Pius XII?
On an aside: Reading Francis through Marx
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101302230
This is the proper way to fight modernism.
And while we are on the subject of fighting modernism, another TLM sighting. 🙂
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/12/you-report-rorate-solemn-high-mass-in.html
Ah yes, the emo priest…it’s all about “feeling” good. Lord help us. God bless~
“And the area where we can all agree is Jesus’ summary of Jewish law: love God and your neighbor as yourself.”
–
One might ask how one can Love God if one rejects His only begotten Son, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world?
–
It is surely the fault of the lazy Bishop’s mass. Bugnini borrowed the ‘fruit of the vine’ and ‘work of human hands’ and ‘it will become for us our spiritual drink (?!)’ From a Haggadah. The more I learn about Paul VI Frankenstein Monster Mass the more it articulates the sense that, simply being at the so-called Ordinary Form, where the ‘signs of the sacred’ have been all but completely disappeared, is an abuse.
“One might ask how one can Love God if one rejects His only begotten Son, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world?”
## Well said.
“Bugnini borrowed the ‘fruit of the vine’ and ‘work of human hands’ and ‘it will become for us our spiritual drink (?!)’ From a Haggadah. The more I learn about Paul VI Frankenstein Monster Mass the more it articulates the sense that, simply being at the so-called Ordinary Form, where the ‘signs of the sacred’ have been all but completely disappeared, is an abuse.”
## The words quoted (also ?) appear in the “Hebrew Daily Prayer Book”, which is the “official prayer book for Orthodox Jews in the UK, with commentary by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.” With all possible respect to the Jews, that is not a good source for the Catholic Liturgy. To borrow from such a source contradicts the two great fictions that (1) the Monster Mash is really not that different from the traditional Latin Missal; & (2) the MM was simply getting back to the sources.
I’m all for good relations between Jews & Catholics – but not at the price of undermining the Faith. We can only have good relations between Jews & Catholics, if the Faith is preserved intact: if the Popes really want “dialogue”, as they say they do, they need to rediscover Tradition. The veiled paganism of V2 is not the answer.
Greetings to one and all in this new year, Anno Domini 2014. The Happiest of New Year’s wishes from the Armaticii.
And not back to the front.
With respect to the “effeminazation” of the liturgy, had a friend over a couple of days ago. He happens to be a priest (NO church variety) and is doing an overseas tour presently. Our conversation quickly turned to the issue of the effeminazation of the liturgy, which was a subject that he brought up. Turns out that “gender identity” agenda is beginning to be pushed in Poland really hard, and the Polish Episcopate is not happy. What startled me is how the priest linked gender identity (effeminization of the general populace) and the effeminized N.O. mass which
he claimed caused the ‘depopulation’ of the church pews, and especially of the adult males. ln his mind, this link was quite strong. If his thinking is a reflection of what the general thinking is among the clerics in Poland (which could very well be), then I think we could be reaching a water shed moment in “multis” if not “vobis” NO church circles. Pray that this is the case.
As for a good summary of the evil of the N.O. mass, the best reference book that I have come across is the work of Fr. Anthony Cekada, titled the Work of Human Hands. He has even produced several video summary chapters that can be viewed on You Tube. I would highly recommend these to anyone, and actually have recommended them to my priest friend.
Once again, best of everything in this new year.
St. Michael Archangel, ora pro nobis
Jimmy,
Thanks for your excellent comments. God Bless and Happy New Year.
Armaticus……
Concerning Fr. Anthony Cekada, he’s a very smart priest but hardcore sedevacantist, one of those radicals that long ago broke from Abp. Lefebvre.
I totally disagree that his book is one of the best on the New Mass. He CANNOT be considered a reliable voice of Catholic Tradition…..Ave Maria!
A Happy New Year to everyone 🙂
Jimmy and everyone, and….oh yeah, Louie, happy 2014 and hopefully more.(p.s. louie thanks for sorting the printer problems – since I don’t own my own car, any suggestions on where to stick the ‘convert’ bumper sticker?).
Jimmy said: To borrow from such a source contradicts the two great fictions that (1) the Monster Mash is really not that different from the traditional Latin Missal; & (2) the MM was simply getting back to the sources.
But that’s it, eh. We, well, moi, goes to a ‘borrowed’ mash every Sunday – also I go to the ‘vigil’ on Sat, because they don’t play things like greensleeves, Clair de Lune, or Doo doo doo…doo doo d’ doo dee dee dee … Nature – enter me while the communicants are receiving the Bread of Life. But by and large, the whole experience is one of guilt. Terrible guilt at how glib the one who has been ontologically remade in order to bring about the miracle of Transubstantiation, seems to see himself as a sort of mass janitor, or an amateur stand-up. The weight of protestantism and feminism (in its most invalid form) is choking the parishes of Christendom, and the bishops, priests and parish councils, philosophize this ecclesiacide with satanic indifference.
where was I. Oh yeah, all the best.
God keep you from wolves and may the Immaculate Heart shelter you in these storms of falsehooods.
Halina:
Here I must disagree with you. (It’s probably a first, no?:-))
His research and exposition of the evil that is the N.O. mass and how it came about can stand on it’s implicit objectivity. And yes, I do not like the fact that he (and that group) carry an emotional grudge against Archbishop Lefebvre. Childish if you ask me. But then again, it’s his free choice. All I can do is pray for him.
Armaticus: You cannot serve both…..GOD, and the ‘evil error’ such as sedevacantism is (for it is a sin against the Holy Ghost….just think about it) which very cleverly they use as their excuse for their ‘error’……. regardless, how convincing they sound. Despair is also a sin against the Holy Ghost. We have not been left orphans. The Holy Ghost is continuously at work with those who are in the state of Grace (and I mean ALL Catholics) to be able to understand and to discern, to give us strength to see the evil for what it really is……but, only to those with the ‘light of faith’. The rest (even those of good will), if ‘truth’ is not in their hearts, HE keeps in blindness……this is precisely what happened with the ‘learned Jews’ in the time of Christ, and is still happening till today…….. We ought to be very prayerful……not to be deceived, we live in a very pernicious times, that even the consecrated to God we must sift and discern what is of God, and what is of ‘men’. These are the fruits of the conciliar popes………guilty of the loss of millions of souls, and cause of this demonic division and confusion amongst Catholics……..What a WRATH on us! This is a wrath on us Catholics, because, we underestimate the power of SATAN over us! Pride of being too educated above our intelligence is also the cause of the blindness. Simplicity in faith is what we have lost…….
In spite of all of the above……….The Catholic Faith INFALLIBLY teaches that Our Lord established His Church upon the foundation rock of St.Peter, willed that she be endowed with the gift of the perpetual papacy and promised the gates of Hell shall NOT prevail against her. The SV rejection of the last 6 popes is to claim that our Lord did not keep His promise. The SV belief we have no pope IS IN ESSENCE CALLING OUR LORD A DECEIVER …..Miserere!
Let us pray for all Catholics especially, because, we have fallen an easy prey to the ‘father of lies’…..Miserere, Domine!
To all who are in despair (God forbid), who have inclinations towards ‘sedevacantism’, or those who think that reading their postings is no harm done. Let me tell you, I know hard-core ‘old timers’ traditional Catholic ‘men’…….fighting the evil of the Second Vatican Council, who despise the innovators, destructors, promoters of the evil Council, evil ecumenism…….. who despise the cowardice, the silence, the lethargy of those who should have defended TRUTH…….those consecrated to God who have replaced the Holy Altar of God…..for this miserable ‘table’……..Yet, these men in spite of all of the above…….HATE SEDEVACANTISM! They pray, that they will NEVER fall a prey to this ‘grave error’. This MUST be a lesson to all of us! Let us not despair!
Know your faith…..not from the ‘blogs’, not from the ‘sede’, but from Jesus Christ, the Magisterium of the holy Church……the Catechism of Trent……the saints. “Remember the HEAD and the BODY to which you belong”……Saint Leo
Have a Blessed New Year! Please, join the Rosary Crusade against the ‘darkness’, especially, the darkness in the soul..
“We need an ongoing spirit of Crusade, to renew our spiritual life, to participate in this triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to obtain from God a blossoming of His Church, to be protected in danger’. – Fr. Arnaud Rostand, District Superior of the SSPX, USA