NOT Milquetoast News

I was born in in Brooklyn, New York in 1959 – as the old joke goes – at a very young age.  I am a first generation American Catholic, as my dad was born in Ireland - as were all my grandparents.

At a time when most people were marrying in their early twenties, my parents married later and were middle aged when my sister and I were born.  As my dad was the youngest of nine, I had several first cousins a generation older than me.  And though my mom was the eldest of four surviving siblings, she was the last to marry.  So, I had older cousins on both sides of my family.    

Though Brooklyn has long been a melting pot of people from all over the world, most of my neighborhood and school mates were second generation Americans.  In addition to my parents being older, I was very conscious of my dad having a brogue.  I was embarrassed by his accent and his limited knowledge of American sports, as it made him – and us by extension - different.  It is only much later and after their passing that I can properly cherish those comparatively older parents from very traditional Catholic backgrounds. They fostered a deep appreciation of the Faith that anchored me and pulled me back, when I wandered into confusion and sinful waters.

The Greatest “Theologians” that I Ever Knew

Neither of my parents went to college, but they were the greatest “theologians” that I ever knew.  This was undoubtedly due to influences like Father Patrick Peyton and Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who mastered the broadcast media for proclaiming the Catholic message. 

Everything in my parents’ lives proclaimed that Jesus, His Church, and His Sacraments were real and absolutely necessary.  Beliefs proclaimed by our Faith were rock solid and to be well known.  You keep the Ten Commandments, especially honoring the sanctity of human life and the sanctity/permanence of marriage/ family.  Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation and Marriage “in the Church” were non-negotiable; more frequent Mass will only aid your spiritual life.  If you fall, express your genuine sorrow to God and go to Confession, asap.  Though my dad passed away in 1984, I vividly recall him on his knees each evening praying to his Savior.

After God and His Church, everything in my parents’ lives also proclaimed that we were of absolute importance and that they would give their lives for either my sister or me.  I pray that I convey that same message to my wife, children, children-in-law, and grandchildren. 

Short Term Consequences after Vatican II: Intended and Otherwise

My parents fostered a deep appreciation of Catholic Tradition.  As they trusted post Vatican II changes to be in keeping with Catholic Tradition, they could not imagine resisting them.  Having themselves made significant contributions to Vatican II, St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict would have urged study of “The 16 Documents of the Second Vatican Council”, as a road map for any changes and antidote to confusion. 

While I have limited first hand recall of the pre-Vatican II Church, I am very intrigued that the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy itself never mentioned a language change from the use of Latin in the Mass.  Nevertheless, the celebration of Mass rather quickly changed from Latin to vernacular languages.  By the time I became an altar boy in 1969, we were not required to learn a single word of Latin.

Many church buildings constructed in the early years after Vatican II often seemed to feature minimalist architecture, largely abandoning the great classical styles.  In my opinion, many modernist church structures now appear dated and out of place.  

I recall that there was much criticism of religious instruction in the years before Vatican II by post Vatican II catechists.  While grade schoolers and high schoolers had few points of reference, I recall wondering why art in religion texts now appeared so juvenile or so much like Peter Max. 

Overall, there seemed to be a powerful and prevalent notion that anything that existed before Vatican II needed to be replaced.  Rather than focusing praise and adoration to the Blessed Sacrament, I erroneously wondered if the words of Tantum Ergo were an endorsement of “out with the old, in with the new”:

Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail;
Lo! o'er ancient forms departing,
Newer rites of grace prevail

With so many changes happening simultaneously, many devout people must have felt somewhat bewildered.  I recall my mother wondering aloud whether there had been unannounced changes in teaching, as certain topics no longer seemed to be mentioned.  It deeply troubled her.

 
As nuns and priests left their callings, few were preparing to take their places. Moral theologian Janet Smith, PhD, has now asked whether laxity in seminary admission standards contributes to the clerical sexual abuse.
 

Renewing the Church or Déjà Vu All Over Again?

No need to repeat old mistakes!  Unlike faithful Catholics in the post Vatican II years, we have ready access to information:

"the Catholic Church in Germany is hemorrhaging members (especially among the young)…Protestant decline in Germany calls into question the logic of the German Synodal Way, which has been described by leading German bishops as a process designed to introduce liberalizing reforms in Church doctrine and practice and which they have stated are absolutely necessary…. in the mind of the German episcopacy the reasons why Catholics are running away from the Church is that the Church is on the wrong side of history on a whole range of issues…. Protestant Germany, which has long since adopted the changes in doctrine and discipline so longed for ….[but] those changes have not helped the Protestants in the slightest…. The problem is we are dealing with de facto atheists who believe in secular modernity more than they believe in the Christ of the Catholic Church " (National Catholic Register, 11/29/22).

It’s Good/Great/Magnificent News – NOT Milquetoast News

To counter the messages of those “de facto atheists who believe in secular modernity more than they believe in the Christ of the Catholic Church," we must absolutely believe and act on the belief that Catholicism offers Good/Great/Magnificent News!  At this juncture of time, nothing sets us more apart from the de facto atheists than our adherence to God’s teaching entrusted to His Church, boldly proclaiming its implications for defending the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of marriage/family.