Lupus is an autoimmune disease. It’s when the immune system starts treating the body as the enemy instead of doing its job and defending the body from enemies. The ungovernable urge of so many committed to “defending the Faith” is to start beating up perfectly pious Catholics with scruples over junk that just does not matter at all and deputizing themselves as Liturgy Gestapo watching others at Mass instead putting their focus on the living God. When your perpetual posture toward others is Defense, you communicate to others that they are enemies, not loved, and you train yourself to see everybody as a threat.
Avoid Spiritual Lupus. Go to Mass and keep your focus on God, not on whether your neighbor is getting every detail of the liturgy right. Scripture says nothing at all about such trivia. But it has stern things to say to Pharisees who tie up heavy burdens for the backs of other and do not lift a finger to help. Try seeing what your neighbor needs, or praising your neighbor or praying for your neighbor rather than “defending the Faith” from your neighbor. Odds are, if they are there at Mass at all, they are not there to attack the Faith. So unclench and take off the Crusader armor. God can defend himself.
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5 Responses
What a great analogy!
“But it has stern things to say to Pharisees who tie up heavy burdens for the backs of other and do not lift a finger to help.”
To those who want beautiful liturgy: It starts with YOU! Usually there’s a woeful lack of those who would take it upon themselves to instruct altar boys, to teach how to read, and especially to sing, to have proper music with quality befitting the Mass. Parishes are woefully understaffed for that.
It’s an interesting case in Poland, where I live. There used to be at least several groups of children, youths and adults by the parish and plenty of people that wanted to make Mass beautiful and help offers were turned down because there was only so much work that could be done without stepping on each others’ toes. Now the groups have eroded so much that there are hardly any people that can (or want to) spare their time, and any help is appreciated.
Start with an example, not with admonishment, show the beauty of the liturgy and your parish *will* follow because we as people are drawn to beautiful and worthwhile things. Likewise, teach the meaning behind each sign, and people will naturally want to do them properly — not because they were ordered to, but because they can’t imagine doing the sign of the cross carelessly when they finally realize what it means.
Mr. Shea, don’t you feel just the smallest bit like you’re talking out both sides of your mouth here? After all, the main reason you have any sort of platform in the Catholic blogosphere is based off of your having written This Is My Body and By What Authority?, among other books. Both this blog and Catholic and Enjoying It! are apologetics blogs.
Why on earth would you suppose that because I think the Faith should be taught well that i must also believe that teaching it badly must never be criticized? That’s like saying that because I think the immune system should be healthy, it should never be treated when it becomes diseased.
David, listen to your namesake: »Because zeal for your house has consumed me« (Psalm 69:10)
Indeed, the more you deal with apologetics, the more your ire is stirred when they’re done badly. Apologetics can only be taught to an involved audience. Any captive audience, especially a disinterested one, is not a good target for any teaching, let alone apologetics.
David, both you and I are here because we sought Mark out and we wanted to read what he has to say. But I’m not going to go around and coerce people to correct themselves by reading Mark’s books and his blog or else their beliefs will be wrong, bad, incorrect, or at least imperfect.