> From: Douglas Noga <dlnoga@sparc.isl.nte>
> Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996
> Subject: Obligation to attend Sunday Masses
>
Dear Douglas,
My sysop will repeat the 4 messages I sent to you on January 9, 1995.
My sympathies are with you and your family. I hope you will follow
Matthew 18:15-17 and speak openly to your parish priest about your
reactions to the liturgy he provides. If he will not listen, you should
carry the matter to your bishop or even higher.
Try to find other parishioners who think as you do, and call upon your
parish priest in a group. Write a group letter to him, signed by all of
you.
You may have to instruct your children at home, but in doing so teach
them patience and charity, especially by your own speech and example.
I cannot recommend Masses in non-Catholic churches, and in particular I
have to warn you against attending Masses of the Society of St. Pius X
(Lefevbrists). They are openly and formally schismatic. To go there
regularly would mean going without Holy Communion.
I do not joke when I suggest that you become active in your parish and
join the Liturgy Committee. You are articulate --- make make your views
known.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
9th Jan 1995
Subject: Sunday Mass obligation 1 of 4
Dear Doug,
Because of the length of this reply, your original message is not
repeated here. In answer to your message, I quote here the
substance of an article by Charles Wilson, entitled "Are We
Obliged to Attend Abusive Masses?" published in CHRISTIFIDELIS,
vol. 11, no 4, Aug 6 93. This is a newsletter published by:
St. Joseph Foundation
4211 Gardendale, Suite A-100
San Antonio, TX 78229
tel (210) 614-3673 --- fax (210) 614-3675.
**************************************
On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to
participate in the Mass . . . Canon 1247
The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at
a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in the Catholic rite either on the
holy day or on the evening of the preceding day. Canon 1248 1
**************************************
This is not an "old Mass" vs. "new Mass" article. Instead, what I am
trying to do is offer some practical suggestions as to what you can do
when you are faced with the same dilemma now confronting increasing
numbers of your fellow Catholics: i.e., when Masses in your parish are
so disfigured by violations of liturgical law that you are tempted to
such drastic alternatives as attending Tridentine Masses celebrated
without the permission of your bishop, going to the liturgies of
Eastern Orthodox parishes not in union with the Catholic Church, or
not going to Mass at all.
A MYTHICAL PARISH
Suppose you are a member of St. Alfred Loisy Parish located in the town
of Point Omega in the state of Nirvana and the Diocese of Ignavia. Your
pastor and only priest of the parish, Fr. Filbert Imbecillus, refuses to
distribute Holy Communion to anyone kneeling; omits the "Gloria* and
substitutes "The Prayer of Belief" by Rev. John Shea for the Nicene
Creed on Sundays and other holy days; changes the text of the
Sacramentary and Lectionary to eliminate "sexist" terminology; uses
funny looking altar bread that appears to be leavened; usually refers to
God as Father/Mother or He/She; insists that everyone stand for the
Eucharistic Prayer; changes the words of the Mass to suit his fancy and
hardly ever celebrates Mass without a crowd of "facilitators" --- most
of whom are zealous feminists --- joining hands around the altar during
the Eucharistic Prayer.
Last Sunday, let us suppose, Fr. Imbecillus announced that henceforth no
Eucharistic minister would distribute Holy Communion on the tongue.
Countless letters of complaint sent by parishioners to the Most
Rev. Adulatio Abjecta, Bishop of Ignavia, have gone unanswered and
there is no reason to expect that His Excellency will take any
action to correct this latest affront. In fact, the only occasion
when Bishop Abjecta made any public statement on the subject
of the liturgy was when he rejected a petition to permit the
celebration of the Tridentine Mass; saying that there was "no need
to return to the past" and that the petitioners were doubtless
influenced by the "liturgical reactionaries."
Suppose also that within a radius of seventy-five miles of Point Omega
there are three other parishes, none of which is any better than St.
Alfred. To attend a Mass celebrated with at least some regard for the
lawful norms, one would have to drive some one hundred miles to the
nearest parish of a neighboring diocese. Three years ago, some members
of St. Alfred's became so disgusted that they formed a private
liturgical association and now hold meetings every other Sunday in an
old Protestant church building which they have purchased and converted
into a small "chapel." These meetings are followed by a Tridentine Mass
celebrated without the permission of the Bishop Abjecta by an anonymous
retired priest in good standing, known by the pseudonym of "Father
Benedict," smuggled in from outside the diocese. Occasionally, whenever
the services of Fr. Benedict are not available, priests affiliated with
the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) have celebrated Mass. Also, there is a
Greek Orthodox parish in a village about a half hour's drive from Point
Omega and St. Alfred parishioners have been known to attend its Sunday
liturgies.
By the way, the abuses taking place in he mythical parish of St. Albert
are not mere figments of the imagination. Every offense described in the
preceding paragraph has occurred in real life. Although I know of no
place where all of them have happened at the same time, I did attend a
Mass in the diocese of Oakland on June 27 where they managed to work in
most of them.
<continued in the following message>
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