Of Catholic Teaching and Cultural Chaos

Letters 09.11.22

Letters to the editor offer a variety of opinions.
Letters to the editor offer a variety of opinions. (photo: NCRegister.com)

Choose Abstinence

There’s great news for women and men looking to avoid unwanted pregnancies! Scientists have discovered what causes pregnancy in women and have found a way to prevent this condition that is considered by many to be a rude disruption to their lives instead of a beautiful gift from God. It is 100% effective, and, best of all, it’s free! 

It is called abstinence, and, apparently, this amazing tool was given to us by our Creator many years ago but has been mostly ignored. It has also been uncovered that our Creator intended that his creation (us) increase and multiply by means of sexual intercourse. 

Early on, however, many humans flipped this concept and selfishly decided that they only wanted to partake of the sexual act without any of the consequences. This has resulted in the murder of millions of unborn children whose life and soul began at their conception. These children did not deserve to die because of the sins of their parents, no matter under what circumstances they were conceived! Yes, a woman’s uterus is the growing chamber of the baby, but that fact does not entitle her to “terminate” or murder another human being. Isn’t murder illegal? Isn’t murder a mortal sin?

There are abundant resources to help mothers, and fathers, to navigate the physical, spiritual, financial and emotional rollercoaster of pregnancy. Some are called pregnancy centers, and they assist anyone who seeks their help; some are called churches, and they assist anyone who seeks their help.

Please, seek help. Choose life. Choose love.

 Suzanne L. Rose

 Columbia, Virginia

 

Crossing Jordan

I read the online commentary “Memo to Jordan Peterson and Dave Rubin: Mothers Are Irreplaceable,” (In Depth, Aug. 14 issue). I’d like to ask whether Mr. Peterson is really in favor of gay parenting, because I could not understand the text very well since my level of English is not that good. Here, we think that Mr. Peterson is conservative; however, how could a conservative be in favor of gay marriage? 

That’s why I do need to understand whether he is really conservative or not.

 Bert Bra

 Spain

 

Waging War on the Mass

Relative to “Pope Francis Pens Apostolic Letter on the Liturgy” (Vatican, July 17 issue):

The last time I heard of people making war on the Catholic Mass was during the Protestant revolt of the 16th century, by Protestants! Whoever heard of a supposedly Catholic pope making war on the Catholic Mass?

It is my considered opinion that Pope Francis should have left Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum alone, instead of attempting to suppress the traditional Latin Mass — what I call the Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great — in the name of the liturgy of Pope St. Paul the VI, otherwise known as the Novus Ordo Missae.

Had Traditionis Custodes not been issued in the first place, we would have liturgical peace in the Church rather than the polemics for which Pope Francis himself is responsible.

I worship the Lord in a Novus Ordo Missae parish. I love the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and I have worshipped the Lord several times in Latin Mass parishes, chiefly apostolates of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), an association of priests established as of pontifical right. I have read in depth all of the documents of the Second Vatican Council — including the decree on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium — including as much of the decrees of the previous 20 Catholic general councils as I can.

For the Pope to say that people, such as I, who revere the Latin Mass of St. Gregory the Great have repudiated Vatican II is a calumny on good, loyal Catholics and false on its face. The Mass of Pope St. Paul VI could certainly be considerably improved along the lines of what Sacrosanctum Concilium said, as well as along the lines of the Missal of 1962 of Pope St. John XXIII, the Divine Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great.

It will undoubtedly take a pope or two who is friendlier to the Divine Liturgy of Pope St. Gregory the Great to undo all the damage caused by Pope Francis’ Traditionis Custodes by rescinding it and restoring Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum, and conforming our liturgy of the Most Holy Eucharist to what Vatican II’s decree on the liturgy actually says (a close reading and study thereof will prove highly profitable and informative) to end once and for all the liturgical polemics about which our present Roman Pontiff so laments — and which he himself caused.

 Hampton Tonk

 Bradenton, Florida 

 

Objective Morality 

In response to “Pushing Proportionalism” by Father Mark George (Letters to the Editor, July 17 issue): We know that God is merciful, and that he judges rightly. With that in mind, should the Church, using our existing cultural filters, preemptively take upon itself the task of changing the moral teaching of 2,000 years of tradition, interpreted and shepherded by the Holy Spirit, in order to anticipate God’s merciful judgment? Clearly, the answer is No. 

The result is the destruction of personal responsibility, exchanging for a doctrine of “lesser of two evils” (consequentialism, proportionalism), which are themselves nothing more or less than a denial of objective moral norms. All of this is done in favor of a “personal, subjective” analysis of morality, one that is more in sync with the spirit of the age, which is masquerading as the Holy Spirit. We constantly hear the old nostrum, “Follow the spirit of Vatican II.” They say that because the letter of Vatican II does not support their goals. Those with “itching ears accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own liking … turn away from the truth … wander into myths” (1 Timothy 4:1-5). 

Politics is downstream from culture, which itself is downstream from religion. However, the modern approach is to substitute our culture and politics for religion, that is, we begin with our cultural/political assumptions and we get a religion that emulates our culture. It’s exactly what we thought it would be, which is only right and proper because, after all, we are the ultimate deciding factor in these things. Our personal freedom is an absolute value that precedes and determines everything else. At present, the “Synodal Path” being followed in the German Catholic Church is the preeminent example of this. 

Jim Roth

Ridgefield, Washington