Traditionalists need to take a deep breath!
Yes, I know. Cardinal Burke wasn't elected Pope. I'll be eating humble pie for the rest of Lent. I'm not worried about that.
Here's what I am deeply worried about:
Pope Francis hadn't been elected for more than two hours and
the vitriol began to spew forth in the comment boxes of this blog and
others. Many from the traditionalist crowd reacted against Pope
Francis with words that were downright offensive. If one of my sons
spoke like that about a priest (or any older man, for that matter), my
boy would have a sore backside and a long stay in a dark room.
Within minutes of His Holiness' appearance on the loggia, some trads
began an online campaign claiming that he was a persecutor of orthodox
priests in Argentina. Then they said he forbade the Latin Mass in
his diocese. Then they were mocking him for not wearing the scarlet
papal mozzetta. They also expressed dismay over how His Holiness prayed
in Italian and not in Latin. Next, they expressed their alarm that he
took off his stole immediately after the blessing. Then they made much
ado over how the tapestry unfurled over the balcony wasn't that of His
Holiness' predecesor. And these comments aren't even the worst of it. I don't even want to list some of the other things they have written online.
Way to go, trads! We have been working so hard under the pontificate
of Pope Benedict XVI to demonstrate that we are not an inbred subculture
of angry, hateful, quasi-schismatic, Jansenistic, holier-than-the-Pope
Catholics. Everyone thinks that we who attend the 1962 liturgy are judgmental, Pharisaical, and rude (click here for details).
And guess what. You just amplified that terrible reputation one
hundredfold. It seems that their contrarian words were spoken in the
heat of passion - and the stirred up passions are the devils'
playground.
After reading comments on my blog and other blogs (especially Rorate Caeli), I am really embarrassed by it all. I
felt obligated to clean up the comment's box on my blog, but
fortunately others have done a good job silencing the angry voices.
Think about this for a moment. If you owned a business or were the
president a large organization, how would you feel if your lower
employees got together regularly to grumble about your leadership?
What if they met together for the sole purpose of questioning your
leadership and credibility? What if they gossiped and maligned you
behind your back? What if they created chat rooms and spread it all
around the internet. Would these persons be considered "faithful" to
your institution? Would you like these people? Would you want to help
these people? Of course not. Such actions are cowardly, immature, and
small.
Perhaps one should pray 15 decades of the Rosary for the Holy Father
before logging online and detracting the Vicar of Christ, whom St
Catherine of Sienna called "our sweet Jesus on earth."
Yes, I am a member of a Latin Mass parish (Mater Dei Catholic Church in Irving, Texas). I am the Chancellor of the Catholic College in the USA with Extraordinary Form of the Holy Sacrifice Mass seven days a week (Fisher More College). It's part of our College's identity and mission. I attend the Extraordinary Form almost exclusively.
I'm "all in" when it comes the Latin Mass, but I am also "all in" when it comes to the Pope. I didn't leave the Anglican priesthood to pretend to be my own Pope once again only this time in the Catholic Church.
I am enthusiastic about Pope Francis? To be honest, I don't know
very much about His Holiness. Yes, I'll admit it: I'm not as excited as I
would have been if Cardinal Burke or Cardinal Ranjith had walked out on
that balcony yesterday. Those who read this blog daily know that my heart and my reputation was set on Burke. Oh well. I'm not God. I was way off the mark. Still, the Holy Father Francis has my filial devotion and obedience.
Let's give His Holiness some time. Let's pray for him. If you're
really worried, don't log on to a blog combox. Fast on bread and water,
pray the Rosary more, go to confession more regularly, give alms to the
poor, etc.
I'd like to encourage all of us to conform the pattern of our souls to the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When Saint Peter, our first Pope, denied Christ three times, she didn't publish the news in the highways and the hedges. Saint John and Mary Magdalene didn't shout it from the housetops. It's really not our place to sift through what might be the future errors of a Pope that we don't yet know.
I'd like to encourage all of us to conform the pattern of our souls to the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When Saint Peter, our first Pope, denied Christ three times, she didn't publish the news in the highways and the hedges. Saint John and Mary Magdalene didn't shout it from the housetops. It's really not our place to sift through what might be the future errors of a Pope that we don't yet know.
In conclusion, let me list three things that give me great hope in Pope Francis. First
of all, I was touched by His Holiness' words about the Blessed Virgin
Mary and his personal entrustment to her. Also, his first act as Pope
was to go to St Mary Major in Rome and offer flowers before the painting
of Our Lady titled Salus Populi Romani. This means that our Holy
Father is Marian. Being Marian is much more important that the 1962
Missal. The Holy Apostles were Marian, even without the Latin Mass.
Secondly, Holy Father Francis, today at Saint Mary Major, knelt
down and prayed before the tomb of Saint Pius V - that great reforming
Pope of the 16th century. Third, His Holiness' first Mass today will be in the Novus Ordo in Latin. Okay, not 1962 Missal, but not a clown Mass either. Let's just take a deep breath. Be charitable. Pray.
Perhaps your salvation will be based partly on how you receive this Holy Father. Don't
fail in this. Anyone can grumble and find faults. The true and
proper response requires supernatural grace and a reassignment to the
divine will of God in all things. God will deliver us ab omnibus malis praeteritis, praesentibus, et futuris intercedente beata et gloriosa semper Virgine Dei Genitrice Maria.
It's easy to grumble (like the Israelites in the wilderness
post-Egypt). The supernatural challenge is to retain faith, hope, and charity in all things. Okay, friends, back to the beads! Keep calm. Retain Christ's perfect peace.
