Those Angry (Insert Group Here)

Recently on two message boards I go to, an article has been floating around called There Ain't No Pure Church by Mark Shea, a fellow convert and a Catholic apologist. It's about the anger that sometimes is felt by certain groups at one another, and how we tend to spend far greater time admonishing one another than we do actually worshiping our God. He has a few points I disagree with, but overall I agree that we spend far too much time ripping one another apart as Christians.

So I'm going to single out two groups here, the Traditionalists and the Liberals. I've had both awful and good experiences with both of these groups. I'm going to try and give pros and cons for each. Before I do, I want to just point out that I've never attended a Traditional Latin Mass, as I don't have any nearby and never have. When I get the chance to go to one, I will jump on the opportunity.

So let's start with the Liberals. My first time I went into a Catholic Church it was because I lost a bet with my ex and I had to go to a Daily Mass. Now knowing what little I knew about the Church even then, I saw this woman up front and was like "Hmm...okay". Then she started speaking. And kept speaking. And gave the homily. And said the words of Consecration. And was doing all the things only a priest was able to do under Catholic doctrine.

So chalk that up as my first bad and confusing experience with the more liberal side of Catholicism because it had my limited knowledge of the faith in disarray. Another more recent example on the bad side of liberals is going to my new home parish for the first time. I didn't realize that it was a substitute priest because the normal one was with his nephew in Alabama and this guy who looked exactly like Fonzie mounts the altar, and tells me in his thick New York accent that social justice, not Jesus Christ, is the only way to Heaven. I nearly left the Mass right then in the middle of his homily, and it was only the urging of my ex that made me go back the next week, when the normal priest was there. Things went much better.

So some good encounters with liberals? Charismatic prayer groups are definitely one thing. I managed to forgive someone I was convinced I would go to my grave hating thanks to one such Festival of Praise/Night of Worship. And with another I'm trying to forgive a person, but was counseled it will take time.

Have I ever "slept in the Spirit"? No. But I can appreciate looking around and seeing hundreds of people my age lining up to be prayed over, singing praises to God on Friday nights instead of being out drunk. I can appreciate a Matt Maher song sung before Adoration as much as I can a Gregorian chant.

So on to Traditionalists I suppose. Let's start with the good experiences here also; though a friend once said there's only a small difference between being friendly with Traditionalists and being one yourself, so who knows where the good might lead. I've also been informed that I've never actually met any Trads in real life who aren't "Rad Trads", so the experience shouldn't be taken at face value.

Among the more Traditionally minded people I know, I find a deep and abiding respect for the Real Presence and for the holy nature of worship in the Mass. This is almost universal in nature and they go out of the way often to go to the type of Mass that they want to go to. I remember one gentleman I met once at my home parish who represents this well, but given the context of our conversation he'll come later in the negatives.

A second positive is the fierce devotion to one another. They hold firm in their friendships and mutual beliefs, willing to defend one another against any accusation.

Now for the less positive aspects. I've yet to meet a Traditionalist (in real life) who doesn't want to bite my head off and cast me down into the depths of Hell. Among reasons for this are: Attending a Novus Ordo Mass, receiving from an EMHC (which I agree are way overused), receiving on the hand, not protesting altar girls, not protesting a lack of Ad Orientum, etc.

I said we'd get back to the man from earlier. It was the worst blizzard since my childhood and every church in the city had closed its doors except for my home parish. Maybe two dozen of us showed up, many of those were homeless who volunteered to help the priest shovel the sidewalk so the woman in the wheelchair could make it across the street to attend Mass. I ended up spending forty-five minutes listening to how he never attended this inferior Novus Ordo Mass because he always drove two and a half hours to attend a Traditional Latin Mass, and had to hear in detail why it was better in every way.

But as I said earlier, a Traditionalist Catholic friend online has pointed out I've had contact with "Rad Trads" in real life, not with Traditionalist Catholics. So what has the point been of listing negatives and positives of both these groups? It's been much the same point as Mr. Shea's article from the beginning of this post: We spend so much time classifying who we don't agree with as angry know nothings that we never think to talk about our differences and to educate one another on why we believe something. We never stop arguing to look at what the teachings really are; instead we're content to mutter "Damn libs" and "Damn rad trads".

That my fellow Catholics, is a shame. I once had a friend tell me she had never found the Church which she fell in love with as she read her way into the Church, and to an extent I can relate. I've never found it either, not entirely, but much like her, I've not stopped searching.

Edit 5.21.2011: I just remembered I know a kid who goes to an SSPX chapel in real life. He is, without a doubt, one of the kindest and most soft spoken people I know. His love for the Scriptures is abundant in all ways.