Pastor’s Corner — September 15th, 2024
Updates to Server Training: Things You May Notice
One of the major initiatives Fr. Joshua is undertaking this year is to inspire, develop and recruit altar servers at Mass. This weekend we are hosting an altar server retreat in which we will roll out some changes that will engage the altar servers more in their faith at Mass, increase a sense of reverence, and hopefully inspire vocations. The changes are not big, but a couple of them might be noticeable to the rest of the parish:
•All altar boys will wear cassocks and surplices. Until now only the “server captains” and adult men servers wore cassocks and surplices, but starting this weekend all the boys will wear them. The significance of this change is to highlight the important distinction between boys and girls: only boys can be called to the priesthood. Therefore, having the boy servers wearing cassocks and surplices is a simple way of encouraging them to think about the priesthood as they serve at the altar of the Lord.
•Triple Ring at the Consecration: When Fr. Joe and I restored the Catholic custom of ringing bells for the consecration at Mass, we asked the servers to ring the bells 1x for the consecration of the Body and Blood respectively instead of the more traditional custom of 3x rings for each. For the sake of consistency with what happens at diocesan Masses with Bishop Boyea and for the sake of emphasizing the joy of the Lord and the miracle at the Mass, we will be returning to the triple ring for the consecration. It’s important to remember in the tradition of the Church that the ringing of the bells at Mass both symbolizes and evokes the joy of the Lord and calls to our attention the miracle happening on the altar: Holy Spirit is poured out (epiclesis) and the bread and the wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus (consecration). As we press more deeply into the Eucharistic Revival, may we never lose our awe at the goodness of God who makes himself our food in the Eucharist.
•More servers at Mass: We also decided that for the purpose of engaging the youth at Mass, we are allowing up to eight servers to vest at each Mass instead of just the scheduled three or four. So you may or may not see more servers serve if they are available.
As Father Joshua and I continue to enhance and update our server program, be on the lookout for additional updates this winter.
The Errors of Catholic Fundamentalism (aka” Radical Traditionalism”)
The ever articulate Trent Horn, a Catholic apologist for Catholic Answers (the mainstream Catholic ministry that defends and explains the Catholic faith), put out a brilliant video recently called, The “Heavy Burdens” of Catholic Fundamentalism. (14:18) Here Trent warns of something I’ve spoken about and written about over the years, something that increasingly worries me today: the increasing influence of a warped, counterfeit, and deceptive version of “Catholicism” that teaches error, but does so in the name of traditional Catholicism or traditionalism. Just as we rightly need to be aware of and reject the false teachings of “leftist” or “progressive” Catholicism, we also need to be aware of and reject the other extreme which is sometimes called, rightly or wrongly, “radical traditionalism” or “Catholic fundamentalism”(Horn’s preferred label). After all, to be a solid, faithful, and traditional Catholic today means we need to reject both extremes on the progressive left and on the fundamentalist right. Here are the timestamps of the video:
00:00 The Dangers of Catholic Fundamentalism
01:09 Catholic Fundamentalists vs Catholic Liberals
02:50 Purity Spiraling
03:40 Where do Catholic Fundamentalists get their “authority”?
12:35 Fundamentalists’ contempt towards the current magisterium
In some sense, I think Catholic fundamentalism is more dangerous than Catholic liberalism. Why? Because at least the devout Catholic who really loves Jesus and the Church can detect the lies of liberal Catholicism more easily because of its outright rejection of Church teaching. It’s harder to spot the errors of Catholic fundamentalism because it seems traditional and seems more devout to hold to a stricter form of teaching, even if that teaching is enslaving, false, and goes against the tradition itself. Horn captures both extremes well: while liberals allow what the Church prohibits, fundamentalists prohibit what the Church allows.
Both liberals and fundamentalists have one thing in common: they reject the living magisterium (teaching authority) of the Church and supplant it with their own personal authority. They both have a tenuous relationship with authority and the truth. These errors would be easier to spot if people were holding these errors on purpose. While some might be, it seems clear that many are not. It should be no surprise that such errors are rampant in online circles. While taking time to answer the dangerous errors taught on both sides, most of the good priests and faithful spend the vast majority of their energy and time helping people love Jesus and his Church and trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
One thing to notice among those who (unwittingly or not) promote the errors of Catholic fundamentalism is that they tend to universalize (and canonize) their own personal preferences and perspectives and condemn as wrong different but other legitimate approaches or teachings in the Church. Horn gives some great examples in the video. Let me add a few more examples of fundamentalist errors that the Church does not teach:
1) The Traditional Latin Mass is objectively (and spiritually superior) to the Novus Ordo Mass
2) Receiving Communion on the hand is sinful
3) It’s sinful to not have as many children as physically possible
4) It’s sinful for a woman to work outside the home unless she absolutely needs to
5) Lay people can’t pray over people
6) Lay people don’t have authority to command evil spirits to leave
7) We don’t have to obey the teachings of the Holy Father and the bishops united with him, if we ourselves judge them not worthy to be obeyed.
I could go on. Of course, we need to be careful to distinguish opinions and preferences from what the Church actually teaches and allows.
Over the years, I’ve found that the rotten fruit of those who follow a “Catholic fundamentalist” approach to Catholicism is legalism, clericalism, fear-based thinking, discouragement, heaviness, anxiety, and scrupulosity: the precise opposite of the abundant fruit and new life that Christ offers us in the Spirit. Jesus didn’t die so his disciples would become like the Pharisees who rejected him, but so that they might be alive in the Spirit, full of love and life, radiating authentic hope to the lost world around them.
If you see tendencies of this kind of Catholicism in your friends and family, it might be worth a watch. Also feel free to check out some of Trent Horn’s other recent videos like The Emptiness of “Political Christianity” and The New Case for God’s Existence, etc. He has hundreds of videos and has written several books. I’ve strongly recommended multiple books of his over the years, two of which are Can A Catholic Be A Socialist?: The Answer is No-Here’s Why (2020) and Made This Way: How to Prepare Kids to Face Tough Moral Issues (2018)
Prayer for our Country
My hope during this election season is that we all keep our eyes on Jesus and allow him to form our minds and hearts on how to think about and act according to our faith in these times. Regardless of what happens in our politics, Jesus is our savior and he’s up to something big. We just need to focus on him and receive his inspiration and direction.
Meanwhile, it’s a holy act to pray for our country and for God’s will to be done in elections. So for those who haven’t seen the prayer cards in the pews, I wrote a Prayer for Our Country, for us to pray along with the Rosary, for the upcoming election. Feel free to pick one up when you see one.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias