May he be at peace.
Unless you lived through this experience, it is impossible to understand. It was too much, and too sudden ... perhaps smaller changes, gradually phased in might have worked better. It is my contention, and I am hoping someone in the catholic forum group can provide some historical background, that the liberal wing whispered in the ear of Pope John XXIII & Paul VI, that change was necessary to keep up with the times (or words to that effect).
I was a student in a catholic school at the time. The school year ended with nuns in habits but when we returned in the September, many of them were attired in street clothes. As young girls, we were happy that the nuns could doff those heavey drapes; however, our "view" of Sr. Mary Holy Card changed. The respect was still there but the "aura" of mystery that surrounded her was gone.
From one week to the next, dramatic changes occurred. The churches had to order new altars in order to comply with the about face rule. The Tabernacle was moved to a side altar. Fasting from midnight on Saturday was reduced to 1 hour (though I expect many people don't even bother with that anymore). The "biggie" was communion in the hand. Only one week earlier, we knelt (in total respect) at the communion rail. If a host fell to the ground - everything stopped!!! Only the priest could touch the host. Now, ladies with heavily perfumed fingers were dipping their hands into chalices to distribute communion.
The music ministry changed ... where once we listened to Pangea Lingua sung by angelic-voiced choirs, to the accompaniment of an organ ... it was now "Amazing Grace" strummed by a guitarist. I distinctly remember turning to my mother and asking her why we were singing protestant songs?
Most importantly, the role of the priest was forever altered. (This was addressed on a different thread last week). The high Holy Mass shriveled up and eventually disappeared.
This priest was as much a victim of Vatican II as all of us. The priesthood that he signed on to was taken away from him, through no fault of his own. The seeds planted by Vatican II have now ripened on the tree; most of the fruit is rotten. We are all paying the price for those changes. A great deception was perpetrated on catholics, both the pious and not so devout.
It is a common principle among philosophers that reward and punishment are the most powerful motives for good with the mass of mankind. Such, alas, is our misery, that we are not content with virtue alone; it must be accompanied with the fear of punishment of the hope of reward.
As man, we must die; as a Christian, we must, immediately after death, render an account of our life. The first truth is manifest in our daily experience, and the second our faith will not permit us to doubt. No one, whether king or pope is exempt from this terrible law. A day will come of which we will not see the night or a night which, for you, will have no morning. A time will come, and you know not whether it be this present day or tomorrow, when you who are now reading my words, in perfect health and in full possession of all your faculties, will find yourself stretched upon a bed of death, awaiting the sentence pronounced against mankind - a sentence which admits neither delay nor appeal.
Consider, also, how uncertain is the hour of death. It generally comes when man is most forgetful of eternal things, overturning his plans for an earthly future, and opening before him the appalling vision of eternity. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures tell us that it comes as a thief in the night; that is, when men are plunged in sleep and least apprehensive of danger. The forerunner of death is usually a grave illness with its attendant weariness, sufferings, and pains, which weaken the powers of the body and give entrance to the king of terrors. Just as an enemy who wishers to take a citadel destroys the outer fortifications, so death with its vanguard of sickness breaks down the strength of the body, and, as it is about to fall before the repeated assaults of its enemy, the soul, no longer able to resist, takes its flight from the ruins.
The above material was taken from a Catholic author and a favorite writer of St. Teresa of Avila. Catholics interested in more details can contact me by Freep mail.
My heart aches for the priests who for half the Mass sit behind the altar with nothing to do. Two weeks ago, a priest on Long Island even sat down for the distribution of Communion, leaving the whole thing (illicitly, I might add) to the "extraordinary" ministers.
Its like these single women nowadays getting sperm donations--who don't want love, intimacy, committment, who just want the seed implanted and to handle the rest themselves.
Men are so devalued in our society. In an era where fathers are regarded almost as a necessary vice, is it any wonder that Fathers are suffering the same problem?
Give the priests back their Mass. That is their JOB, that is their VOCATION, and if you take that away from them, you have emasculated them beyond belief. Not that that wasn't the plan all along.