Where Traditionalists Can Go Wrong

Traditional Catholics who love the Latin Mass do a lot of good for the Church. They’re helping preserve the Church’s priceless heritage in an age where we’re quick to label things as “out of date.”

But the devil won’t let any good thing stand. He’s always ready to work under the radar to slowly, imperceptibly corrupt our good intentions and righteous indignations.

And Traditional Catholics do have a lot to be justly upset about. Once upon a time, we could look to the Church and its liturgy as a source of stability in a world of shifting values and broken families.

Yet, the past half century or so has seen priests and bishops turn on the Church’s beautiful sacred tradition in order to accommodate the secular spirit of our age. The liturgy, sacraments, and catechetical instruction have been banalized and drained of their profound depth and reverence.

All in the name of Vatican II — despite the fact that the Vatican II documents never called for this radical break with the past.

Yes, Traditional Catholics have a right to be angry. But it’s here that the devil sees his golden opportunity to use that anger for his ultimate purpose: to harm the unity of the Church and destroy Christian joy and hope in the hearts of the faithful.

In Galatians 5:22-23, St. Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit. He says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Notice how anger and bitterness don’t appear in this list.

The devil uses our anger toward the present state of the Church to weaken our trust in Christ and His promise to always be with us. He fuels our distrust of Christ’s chosen ministers so that we may question their legitimacy. This gives rise to perversions such as sedevacantism, which is the belief that there is no valid pope today because the “Vatican II popes” lost their office through “heresy.”

This is an extreme example, but some Traditionalists have fallen prey to it.

So what should our response be to the obvious craziness we witness in the Church today? The answer is simple: Let’s refocus on Jesus and His promise to always be with us.

Ralph Martin, who’s been on our show, speaks of the Church being under judgment right now. Jesus is letting the light shine on the rot that was hidden in the shadows. Once the rot is fully exposed, He can heal it.

Remember, God can bring good out of evil. All the corruption, scandals and destruction of faith we witness today, all of this will be used by our Lord for some glorious purpose only He can see.

So, instead of letting ourselves become bitter, we should instead ask, “Jesus, what are you doing? And how do I get on board with what you are doing?”

Our Lord’s answer may not always be what we want to hear. It may force us to examine our own sins and faults that we tend to hide under the excuse that “Well, at least we’re not as bad as them.”

I invite you to take some time to turn your glance away from the horrible things going on in the world and the Church to refocus your attention on Jesus Himself. He promised that He would never abandon us.

Do you really believe in Him?