I just came across this posting on a Catholic forum I sometimes visit:
***The pope called a Synod of Bishops in 1985 to re-assess Vatican II. As I recall they gave a significant thumbs up for the Council. And to my thinking the Pope took more seriously HIS DUTY TO IMPLEMENT VATICAN II.***
And so he yielded to the new teaching (contrary to tradition) of collegiality. Thus he yielded to the bishops when they requested ALTAR GIRLS BE PERMITTED. This was followed within the Church by the abuse (it was not permitted then) of Communion in the Hand. Then when the bishops asked the Holy Father to give approval for Communion in the Hand, he again yielded, while stating "I PERSONALLY AM OPPOSED TO COMMUNION IN THE HAND".
And so, to my thinking, canonization of Pope John XXIII and of Pope John Paul II would be a canonization of Vatican II, and so help significantly to keep the liberals and modernists greatly influential in ruling the Church.
Am I a bad Catholic, that I can't get worked up about this, and that I find such agitation deeply amusing? I receive on the tongue myself but I don't get worked up into a tizzy about people receiving in the hand. As for altar girls, I honestly don't see the harm. If someone makes a compelling argument against them, I would nod my head and say "OK".
I'm not saying liturgy is not important. It is massively important. But this kind of obsessiveness, with all its screaming capital letters, just seems ridiculous to me.
I don't get too worked up about communion in hand either, though that's only because I think the majority at my Church take the host in their hands. That might be more a reflection of my ignorance or lack of zeal though.
ReplyDeleteAs for altar girls, I think it has something to do with altar boys being linked to priests in a sense. Almost like the altar boy being a sort of mock of the priesthood, if you understand.
I don't like the attitude of "I am personally opposed to something, but..". I'm sure those aren't exact words, but I find it to be a very weak and, quite often, cowardly attitude. You might as well just say "I don't like this, but I'll be damned if I'm going to face any backlash for refusing".