A lot of the current information about the Catholic Church and the sedevacantist position comes from the english speaking world. I fully appreciate all the useful information published by different organizations and groups that are out there. To find Catholic litterature of the good, old kind in the Nordic languages is more or less an impossibility. After more than 400 years under protestant ruling, the traces of truth have been skillfully erased, books burned, historical facts altered etc. Nowadays we even have the imposter-sect the Novus Ordo to battle against, with all their "revised versions" of writings, sometimes revised into the unrecognizable.
But what both puzzles me and grieves me, as an outsider, not being a member of any organisation, not even having a Priest in the region or a Mass to go to.. is to observe the numerous kinds of strange attitudes and even heresies held within the sedevacantist community. (And by community I don't mean that I am in communion with heretics, since it is a fact that it only takes one heresy to fall outside of the Church.)The most frequent ones seem to be
1) That there is no salvation outside the Church, except..EXCEPT!!? People always have exceptions. Whether it is the unbaptized infants, the 12-year old protestant, the ignorant of good will who are following their own conscienses.. Why do people always think that God knows all minor things, all of our little problems and everyday battles, and then He, the Almighty God! should NOT KNOW about the much bigger and more important issue of .. weather or not people have heard the true gospel. Is God ignorant of the heathens? Does He depend upon man to share the truth with anyone? Did He not convert St. Paul on the way to Damascus? All humanbeings without exceptions are outside the Church AND outside salvation as long as they are not in unity with the Church in faith, having entered by water baptism. And they are guilty of sin and will be condemned, if not for not having heard, then for actual and original sin. Why is that so hard to grasp? And why do we have examples in Church history of the Saints raising the unbaptized from the dead in order for them to be baptized, if it was not absolutely necessary for them in order to enter Heaven?
2)The natural family planning heresy. Why do Catholics refuse God His right over their bodies for procreation? Do they not know that duty comes before pleasure? Do they not understand that marriage is a Sacrament and a calling to bring about little Christians, Godwilling? Do they not know that fleshly lust in itself is a sin, even within a marriage if the main-intention of the marriage act is deliberately avoided? And that chastity is a virtue?
3)The heresy that having a Mass to go to is more important than keeping the Faith.
We are not Catholics if we go to the Latin Mass, we are Catholics when we keep the Faith. You Commune with those that you believe and hope to share eternity with. In the Nordic region, even before the "Reformation" we read about Catholics who could not go to Mass for 7 years. And we don't have a Mass today. Does that make us less Catholic? Does that exclude us from the Church? Not at all. Compromising your Faith does.
4) The strange attitude that it is more important that you wear a neck-tie and a shirt to Church than that you prepare your heart before you enter. Why not strive to be better on the inside? Does God really care that much about outer appearance? He cares about MODESTY, yes, but a tie? Why not encourage people to drop by the Church during lunch-hours, after work, before school? If you have the privilege of having a Church around, why not strive to BE THERE as much as you can. Do you have to worry about "running home to get your tie and Jacket and nice shoes?" And the fashion is a modern invention, maybe even vanity for some people. As an outsider, longing to have a Church to go to, I grieve for you and your invented problems. Wear a tie if you want to, but don't judge a brother who wears sandals but who comes with a pure heart or at least a longing for a pure heart. Did not Jesus himself wear sandals? He even told his followers to only have ONE PAIR! Worry about how to get the gospel out to people and to your own children instead. Now, there's a challenge!
No comments :
Post a Comment