KM writes:

I am anticipating the day when techno-music-dancing will be added to our church’s Mass, or at least to post-Mass celebrations.  In three years my Catholic parish went from having a Latin Mass, beautiful music, soul-nourishing sermons, and reverence for God, to having a bland Mass, bland music, and bland sermons about being tolerant, having generic “love,” serving others, and (in one instance) not being “homophobic” which is an offense that surpasses all others apparently.   It’s only a matter of time when we will be treated to sermons on how we should be less pederasty-phobic and polygamy-phobic too.

Sadly our traditional pastor was ousted from our church, and our current assigned pastor seems to be going through the motions as quickly as possible to get through a corporatized, lackluster, and soulless Mass.   Techno-dancing may actually be the next phase to wake up the increasingly comatose (and drugged up?) congregants in the pews.

I truly want to leave this church but my husband can’t bear to give up on them yet.  Besides, there aren’t many good alternatives in our area that we can agree on.  Most churches seem to be part of Church Inc. that share the same ideology.

Laura writes:

I understand your confusion. You are trying to do the right thing, and that is commendable.

But you are speaking like a Protestant not a Catholic. You don’t feel right at church. You reject some of the modernist doctrine. Your justification for moving on is that you want a better experience.

Catholics don’t normally think this way because they have a hierarchy that imposes uniform worship and doctrine. One of the marks of the Catholic Church is its unity. A Catholic is obligated to obey.

Unfortunately, you and your husband cannot avoid a theological dilemma here. Or rather, you can avoid it, but you can’t escape it. You will be making a theological decision either way.

If you believe that Francis is a true pope, then the reverent priest you had who was saying the Latin Mass simply did not belong in that parish and you should uncomplainingly embrace his replacement because his replacement is most definitely in keeping with Vatican II worship that the pope himself practices and promotes.

If, on the other hand, Francis is not a true pope but, like his immediate predecessors, has defected from the Catholic Church, you should not seek an oasis where you can feel like you are in the Catholic Church, but instead avoid all worship, whether it feels right or not, that is in union with this pretend Church.

Here are relevant comments from Bishop Donald Sanborn in his 1998 sermon, “He Who Does Not Gathereth with Me Scattereth,” which you can find here:

Sometimes the lay people prefer to come to Mass, thinking, “I don’t like the new, I prefer the old, and I would rather just concentrate on my piety and not be burdened by these deep theological issues.” But you cannot do that. For the Roman Catholic Church is not merely an organization of piety, it is not merely a movement like Buddhism or Islam, but rather is the Mystical Body of Christ, and Roman Catholics, in order to save their souls, must be subject to the Roman Pontiff. Therefore, we cannot be simply indifferent to that man and say, “Well, he may be the pope but we’re going to do this.” If he is gathering, then we must gather with him. If he is scattering then  we must denounce him as a scatterer, as someone who is against Christ. But the Catholic cannot remain indifferent to the person of the Roman pontiff.

You and your husband have to decide, and you have the obligation to decide these issues as individuals. You come before God as an individual, not with your husband at your side. You can have a peaceful marriage and differ from him on this important matter. Even though this really is the most important area of your lives, couples cannot always work through the confusion together. In saying this, I recognize this is not at all easy.

If you decide that this is really not the Catholic Church that you are part of, you should realize that the faith comes first, not the Sunday Mass. Catholics in this country were spoiled. They had a wealth of opportunities for the Mass. Unfortunately, this led to a strange belief that as long as you are going to a “Mass,” whatever it is, it doesn’t matter what you actually believe.

You can have the faith and the Church.  The Church is out there, healthy and vital, you just have to work to find it. Good places to start are the Society of St. Pius V and Most Holy Trinity Seminary in Brookville, Florida. Contact the priests with questions. See the website True Restoration for all kinds of discussion of this issue and genuine Catholic programming. I recommend all of Bishop Sanborn’s sermons. As he said, “In order to be with Christ, we must be with His Church.”

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