Pope Benedict totally rocked the house with his homily last night, going more deeply into the Vigil's symbolism than anything I've ever heard or thought possible. Future centuries will be reading his homilies at Matins.
... while current Catholics only bemoan his "brand of conservative Catholicism." In my discussions with the Catholics I meet outside of this forum, most seem to be perplexed by this "throwback" pope and simply assume that it's just a temporary bump in the road on the way to Progressiveland. The real fight for the soul of the Church will come in the next decade, I believe. The younger people I meet are about half and half regarding tradition and modernization. Case in point. We are ordaining two priests in May. One has requested our schola to sing for his first Mass, while the other (I believe) would prefer the LifeTeen group. This is just the beginning folks.
I suppose it's true that "all politics are local," but from what I've seen in the DC-area churches, there's a big difference between the older generations and the current young adults. The difference is in the LEADERS. Young church leaders I know tend to be pro-Benedict. Maybe their less-committed peers disagree, and certainly the older leaders (as a whole) have a progressive agenda. But the kids are alright...
I'm at the other end of the Michael's state and my experience is similar to his. One of our difficulties is our aging clergy who are attached to the "contemporary" music of the 1980s. We also had a strong musical influence in the Southern states from the charismatic movement which remains quite strong around here. Lastly, LifeTeen, regular concertizing by John Michael Talbot, and difficulty in making a more traditional musical connection with teenagers and young adults keep that group out of our loop. I've got a couple of promising contacts in a youth movement, but at the same time music isn't at the top of their list.
In the realm of personal anecdotes, I just heard an comment from a friend yesterday that a priest she knew (in his late 50's) was complaining about the younger priests being too conservative. He also said, "If I ever have to say the Mass in Latin, I'll quit first!" Leaving aside the obvious question about the seriousness of his vocation, I wonder what his response would be if he was asked to say the Mass in Spanish.
It makes me wonder why some of the older people are sooo bitter about latin? Not understanding the language is the only reason? Or there's more reasons that are common among them that I don't know.
By the way, thank you Kathy mentioning about the Homily. I read it this morning. It was just awesome.
We are so blessed to have such a Holy Father.
I do think that Latin, chant, ad orientem, TLM, statuary, etc. represent a huge cultural shift, and that folks who are afraid of the shift itself are right to be afraid of these forms. And the faithful are right to be consoled!
What I understand is that Vatican II expanded the latin rite and wanted the faithful understand it better as a 'common' culture of the faithful, and we are in a transitional period for that goal. I guess many people can be confused in any transitional period.
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