Something About Mary ~ Salty Faith

Tomorrow is the traditional calendar feast of Our Lady of The Most Blessed Sacrament.

Dearest Mother, you and your Son, present in the Eucharist, are what help to define us as Catholics, pray for us that we may be salt of the earth.


Low sodium faith....

Bland, not distinctive...blending in...we are not called to live like that.

May 12, 2009VERSE:

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good foranything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men."
-- Matthew 5:13 http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Matthew+5:13

THOUGHT: Jesus wanted us to never give up our moral distinctiveness, our redemptive influence, or our loving impact on those around us. The purpose of our presence in the world is to be an influence in our culture against further decay and to season the bitter, dog-eat-dogworld with grace and mercy.

PRAYER: Dear holy and majestic LORD, please help me resist being conformed to my culture. Instead, dear Father, please use my distinctiveness to bless others and to expand the influence and impact of your Kingdom. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20090512

This reminded me of a post I read at Father Z's on the topic of reclaiming our Catholic Identity. It was written by a man who is in a parish that offers both the Novus Ordo Mass and the Latin Mass, both of which he attends. The guest bloggger makes comparisons between the 2 Masses and Father Z adds his own thoughts, in red. http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/05/revisiting-the-novus-ordo/ As I have heard from other converts and what strikes me about his analysis is the realization that one looks different and one could look like any protestant service......

"I proceed, next, not to the negative, but to the ambiguous. [I like his distinction.] One question that keeps recurring to me is this: What about this religious rite and ritual would be recognizably Catholic to someone who didn’t know what it was beforehand? [Excellent!] There is no question about its being Christian. Yet many of these things—the crucifix, the procession, the altar, the candles, the Nicene Creed, the kneeling, the filing up to receive communion—I have seen in Episcopal, Lutheran, and even Presbyterian churches. [Aha… we are getting at what makes it Catholic. We are back to asking questions about the connection of Catholic worship and Catholic identity.]

Catholic Identity. People used to think Catholics stood out, they didn't eat meat on Fridays...there was an ancient mystery to the Mass, the Latin...

When the Protestants split from the Catholic Church in England in the 16th century, they changed the Mass to reflect their heretical beliefs. The altars were replaced by tables. Latin was replaced by English. Statues and icons were removed from the churches. The Last Gospel and the Confiteor were abolished. “Communion” was distributed in the hand. Mass was said out loud and facing the Congregation. Traditional music was discarded and replaced with new music.

There was a time when a weeknight would find a church filled with parishioners praying a miraculous medal novena or a rosary... Devotion to Mary, the Blessed Mother made us different, our belief that the Eucharist was TRULY the Body and Blood of Christ brought us to our knees to recieve on our tongue from the consecrated hands of a priest, not casually taken from our hands like a potato chip.

Returning to our rich history is not a mistake. Our Holy Father wrote, "What earlier generations held as sacred, REMAINS SACRED AND GREAT FOR US too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place." -Pope Benedict XVI. the Vicar of Christ on earth, LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Traditional Catholicism
We are what you once were.
We believe what you once believed.
We worship as you once worshipped.
If you were right then, we are right now.
If we are wrong now, you were wrong then.

6 comments:

The Lly Dilettante said...

A lot of Catholics do take the Eucharist like potato chips. Popping the Body of Christ into their mouths, they have forgotten to receive, not take.

Jamie Jo said...

JMJ-There is so much I'd like to say, but cannot even put into words...(as my 4 year old is standing by me talking to me...)

I have to say, I do like some of the changes since Vatican II, like face to face Confession, and quite a few others.

We are blessed enough to live in a city where there are several Catholic Churches and can pick the most traditional of all of them. Where we are, the priests do what they are supposed to do and I love it!

Since my parents are SSPX, they would not come to our baby's Baptism or the Mass and you know what? I do not want them to, because I would not want them sitting there criticizing what I think is beautiful. Criticizing all they believe to be wrong.

I know the N.O. Mass has many errors, but I do believe there is a middle ground. I do believe there is a compromise. We have the Chair of Peter, and where that chair is, I will be. I believe because of that Chair, the Holy Spirit will stay with us, He will guide our Holy Father and He will continue to work through all of this garbage and one day we will all be one.

This is just the surface, as I said I just cannot even put into words what I am thinking or feeling. I don't think I ever could.

Again, and as usual, great post, great job spreading the faith!

Christine said...

Love it! I love everything right, everything pure, everything tht is truth. I love Our Lady!

Allison said...

Hi ladies!

Jamie - I am not suggesting that there is nothing good from vatican II, I am suggesting that, as our Holy Father has said, our rich tradition is also NOT BAD.

Statistics on belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist and Catholics not knowing what being Catholic means is all to prevalent in our society today.

WE HAVE LOST SOMETHING. We don't seem to know who we are or what our Church teaches....

I don't think the Holy Father is wrong in saying that it "behooves" us to reclaim our Catholic identity and I am saddened that more priests are not leading their flocks and supporting Summorum Pontificum. We should all ask ourselves what have we done to support the Holy Father's motu proprio. He is our pope and he has a vision.

Jamie Jo said...

JMJ- I didn't mean my comment as negative at all towards you. I hope you didn't take it that way.

I'm used to my parents who do not think anything at all good has come after Vatican II and blame everything in the church and in society on it.

Sarah - Kala said...

Greetings in Christ and the love of Mary!
Wow. This post 'rocks'!! I am always learning something every time I come here - and with grace and charity. I appreciate that about you. I have yet to experience a Latin Mass. Perhaps I can in HI? I'll research when I get settled in. The more I learn, the more I want to be faithful to the Traditions.

Keep this stuff coming!
God richly bless you and keep you.

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