Letters 04.14.19

Readers respond to Register articles.

(photo: Register Files)

Kneeling in Anguish

I do not stand in applause for New York; I kneel in anguish.

In 2014, New York had the second-highest percentage of abortions at 33% in the U.S., and in 2015 approximately 35% of all pregnancies in New York City ended in abortion, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Now, the newly passed “Reproductive Health Act” opened wide the gate for women to kill their babies at any time, for any reason, and essentially by anyone without any consequences. Somehow it doesn’t sound very “reproductive.”

It doesn’t even sound “productive.”

The National Center for Health Statistics reported in 2017 the total fertility rate (the expected number of lifetime births per 1,000 women given birth rates by age) for the United States at 1,765.5, which is 16% below what is considered the level for a population to replace itself.

This is the lowest total fertility rate in the U.S. since 1978.

This rate produces numerous social and economic consequences, but suggests that we are doing a good job with contraception; adding abortion and the rates of infertility, we may just not have any children left to be “inconvenient.”

Historically, killing for convenience sounds familiar.

The most fundamental right is for life, the dignity of human life; I stand for that.

         Cathy Sowers

         Belle Fourche, South Dakota

 

Faith Takes Courage

Regarding “Spiritual Crisis Conduct: Fortifying the Faith Amid Scandal” (page one, Feb. 3 issue):

This article is just another article on the Church crisis that misses the whole point.

Yes, we have a crisis. I have been a Catholic for 80 years; and there have been many types of crises since that time.

There seems to always be some excuse for Catholics to leave the Church.

Yes, the sex scandal is horrendous; but Catholics have always found a reason to jump ship.

It sounds to me as if Catholics have no idea why they are Catholic.

Here is a clue: The Catholic Church is the Church Christ founded. We are Catholic because it is his Church. We go to Mass because when the drop of water is added to the wine, the water represents us, his people. When the priest adds the water to the wine and says the words that change the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we are part of the Mass.

When the priest offers up the Body and Blood to his and our Father, he represents Jesus.

The Catholic Church is the only Church where you can walk through the door and be in the presence of God — not because God is everywhere, but because he is in the tabernacle waiting for us.

Remember when Jesus told the crowd that they would have to eat his body and drink his blood in order to be saved and some of his disciples turned and walked away?

He asked his apostles if they were going to also leave him.

They said, “Where will we go, Lord?”

Perhaps the Catholics who leave the Church should ask themselves the same question.

And then there was Judas.

He was with Jesus for three years, one of the first Twelve, and he sold out his friend and master for silver.

Talk about a crisis in the Church!

But did the other apostles abandon ship?  Not a chance — because they knew why they were in the Church Jesus started.

St. John Henry Newman, when he came into the Catholic Church, said: “Now, after tasting of the awful delight of worshipping God in his temple, how unspeakably cold is the idea of a temple without that Divine Presence. It is really most wonderful to see the Divine Presence looking out almost into the open streets from the various [Catholic] churches. … I never knew what worship was, as an objective fact, till I entered the Catholic Church (From Newman’s Grammar of Assent).

Perhaps Catholics should learn more about their own religion, perhaps read the Catechism, and perhaps have some of the courage of our saints.

         Connie Craven

         Corinna, Maine

 

 

Ordinariate Form

Relative to “Extraordinary Mass” (Culture of Life, Jan. 20 issue):

Thank you for publishing the article. In addition to the extraordinary form, these elements of reverence, rightly ordered postures and orthodoxy may also be found in the form offered by the many parishes of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. 

The ordinariate form, the roots of which (the Sarum Rite) actually predate the Council of Trent, is essentially the traditional Latin Mass, but in English: priest facing ad orientem, prayers at the foot of the altar, incense, reverence throughout; all of the things that make the extraordinary form so edifying — but in English.

In his 2009 apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, which authorized the ordinariate, Pope Benedict XVI said that the ordinariate form of the Mass is “a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the ordinariate and a treasure to be shared.” 

Before discovering our local ordinariate parish five years ago, we had “parish-hopped” for more than 10 years in search of reverence. 

Having read Sacrosanctum Concilium, the actual Vatican II document on the liturgy, it was clear to me, upon our very first experience with the ordinariate form, that this was exactly what the Council Fathers had in mind for liturgical reforms — accessibility in the vernacular, but not at the expense of reverence or Tradition.

In Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council desired the use of the vernacular:

“… since the use of the mother tongue … frequently may be of great advantage to the people, the limits of its employment may be extended,” Sacrosanctum Concilium (36).

But, at the same time, they wanted strong adherence to Tradition:

“… there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing” (23).

Summing it up:

“The Council also desires that, where necessary, the rites be revised carefully in the light of sound tradition and that they be given new vigor to meet the circumstances and needs of modern times” (4).

The ordinariate has several parishes across the country (four here in Southern California and others scattered throughout Texas, the Midwest and East Coast).

Confirming the modern relevance of our accessible yet reverent liturgy, we have large numbers of young adults and converts in attendance, a lot of really smart people who take the faith seriously. 

I have visited many ordinariate parishes across the country and have always found them to be very welcoming of visitors. 

So I encourage your readers to seek one out and experience the beauty.

         Patrick Simons

         Laguna Hills, California

 

Prayers for Priest

Your story “Priest Removed for Traditional ‘Style of Worship’” (Nation, Feb. 17 issue) points out the problem today with bishops who think they are in the “Middle Ages.”

He should be “dismissed.” My prayers go with Father Edwin Dwyer, who has suffered their humiliation.

         James P. Byrne

         Flanders, New Jersey

 

Strong Connection

Relative to “Priest Removed for Traditional ‘Style of Worship’” (Nation, Feb. 17 issue):

Your news story about Father Edwin Dwyer being removed from his parish for integrating traditional aspects of worship to the Mass strongly resonated with me.

I grew up in a small rural Catholic parish in South Texas during the 1940s. Our Mexican-American people were very traditional Catholics. There is something very beautiful, and special, when one hears the ancient Latin words praising God. The chanting also is special.

I love everything about the traditional Mass: the incense, the candles, the bells, the lovely altar, the statues. I feel closer to God when Latin is used in Holy Mass. My heart goes out to Father Dwyer. This was a sad story for me.

         Casi R. Fisher

         Warner Robins, Georgia