A 8th Sunday after Pentecost Thought About The Value of Traditional Ways of Expressing Our Faith

While we generally avoid the many controversies that fly at us Catholics these days, we couldn't help but take note of the recent consecration of bishops by the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) on July 1st. We won't get into all that here, but it did spark some thoughts about the value of traditional ways of expressing our faith. 

Traditional ways of expressing our faith can penetrate our soul in surprising ways. Not saying that anything written or spoken since Vatican II isn't worth reading or listening to. But to the extent that such words reflect the spirit that enriched our tradition for centuries, they do seem more, well, worth reading or listening to.

Fact is, there's a lot of flab, fluff, even heresy, in far too much of what is fed to us by a whole list of sources.

We might cite the modernist faux Catholic media. These sources, even if they are sincere, are best left untouched. At least that's the opinion of your humble servant.

And so developing good, solid Catholic sources is paramount if we do indulge in reading, listening, or watching anything that purports to be Catholic.

Even better, look back to the actual writing of our forbears for solid, reliable, informative and inspiring teaching. 

We try to do this in our posts from time to time. Today will be one such post. Here's something from a publication called The Catholic Miscellany. It's day was late 19th century. At first blush, those of us who are steeped in more contemporary styles of writing may find a bit tough going. But just take a deep breath, exhale, then breathe in these marvelous words that drill down into fundamental truths of our Catholic Religion. These have always been taught, and never abrogated, despite some of the pronouncements of our recent shepherds and their minions.

 What better way to find some meat for meditation on this holy Sunday?

    “The Blessed Sacrament is the ‘soul’ of the Church, the life of the priesthood, the center of all our love and all our affections. The Blessed Sacrament is Jesus, and Jesus is our all. Jesus is our first beginning and last end. He created us; He regenerated us anew in the waters of Baptism; He is our strength in youth, our support in old age. He is our life in living, and our hope in dying; in death He will be our Judge, and in Heaven we hope our reward. Though love began in the creation, the greatest manifestation of the love of God to man is contained in the sacred mysteries of the Incarnation and Blessed Sacrament. God’s love for man could go no further. All God’s love, power, and wisdom are centered in the Divine Babe and Host. Were the Divine Babe and Divine Host better known, they would be better loved. Did we but meditate on the infinite love and mercy of Jesus in the Incarnation and Blessed Eucharist, our cold hearts would warm into love for Jesus, and we would shudder at even the thought of offending Jesus. How awfully solemn are the inspired words that express these two sublime mysteries: “THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH”; “THIS IS MY BODY”, “THIS IS MY BLOOD.” “The Word was made Flesh!” What more sacred words on the tongues of men or angels! All they convey! The food of holy thought and meditation they bring to the mind…Adorable mysteries of the Incarnation and Eucharist! How like! In the Incarnation, Jesus took flesh in Mary’s womb; in the Eucharist, He takes flesh in the priest’s hands. ‘Oh!’ cries out St. Augustine, ‘the dignity of priests is to be venerated, in whose hands, as in the womb of the Virgin, the Son of God becomes incarnate.’… O Christians envy not the just in Heaven: except that you cannot love God as they love Him, you have in your humble chapel all they possess in paradise; they see Jesus face to Face, you see Jesus not less really with the eyes of faith; on the altar you have Jesus, the lamp, the life, the glory of the blessed in Heaven. How beautiful and full of faith was the reply of St. Louis, King of France, when invited to behold Jesus Christ, who appeared in the consecrated Host under the form of an infant: ‘Let those,’ said the holy king, ‘who do not believe by faith, go and see; I believe more firmly than if I saw Jesus Christ with my eyes.’ Such, too, is our firm faith. We kneel before the Blessed Sacrament with the same absolute certainty of the presence of Jesus Christ, as the saints have who see him face to Face in Heaven.”(The Catholic Miscellany, 1895)

Happy 8th Sunday after Pentecost!