I discovered this
notice in a parish bulletin just this last Sunday:
Simulcast
with Beth Moore and Travis Cottrell Sept. 15, 2012
Please
join us for a day of live music, worship, inspirational teaching by Beth, lunch
and fellowship with ladies in our community and from our neighboring towns! Get
ready to refresh and recharge spiritually!
Tickets
go on sale August 19th at our church office, [and other locations].
You can probably
guess just from the little bit of information presented in the bulletin blurb
that this is a Catholic speaker!
According to
Wikipedia,
[Beth Moore] is an American evangelist,
author, and teacher. Moore founded Living Proof Ministries,
a Bible-based organization for women, in 1994. It…focuses on aiding women who
desire to model their lives on evangelical Christian principles. Travis
Cottrell leads worship at these conferences.
So…a local parish is
encouraging Catholic women to attend
a “simulcast” with a Protestant self-proclaimed “Bible teacher” and listen to contemporary Christian music in
order to “recharge spiritually”.
But just try to
introduce the Traditional Latin Mass in this parish, or even Gregorian chant in
the Novus Ordo Mass…or even the Simple English Propers!
There is just something
inherently wrong with this picture.
Is it any wonder our
Catholic identity is slip-sliding away?
Before I was received
into the Catholic Church, I was a “holy roller” myself (see my conversion
story). I was even an officer in the local Aglow
chapter. But I knew there was something different about Catholicism. I knew
instinctively that if I went to the weekly intercessory prayer meeting and
suggested we all pray the Rosary, the idea would not be met with enthusiasm. I
resigned my office after deciding to become Catholic, and phased out of the
whole Aglow enterprise. It just didn’t match. Now, if I sensed that before I was even
in full communion with the Church, and before I even knew there was a GIRM and
papal encyclicals and Canon Law…well, why don’t cradle Catholics know it?
Shortly after
deciding to become Catholic, I was at a “nondenominational” Bible study. Someone
brought up John 6:53, where Jesus says, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life
within you” – an quickly added that this was merely “symbolic”. The only other
Catholic woman present at the meeting nodded in agreement. I sat there
dumbfounded, wondering how she could do that, because that was pretty much the
basis on which I was coming into the Church. Oh, I had investigated the Catechism of the Catholic Church to a
degree, but I was sold on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. That’s
why I was becoming Catholic – because I couldn’t receive that Real Presence in
the Pentecostal church I was attending.
So…been there, done
that. I know that what is taught in Protestant Bible studies does not always
reflect Catholic teaching!
And so it continues:
the Protestantization of the Catholic Church in Eastern Oregon.
I fought that whole "non-denominational" bible study crap at my previous parish and for just the reasons you described.
ReplyDeleteI finally gave up and let the Roman protestants have the parish. Good riddance. Am I bitter? Yep!
Gee, Adrienne, I don't know why you can't just tell us how you really feel... ;-) One of these days, we're gonna take back the ground lost to the "Roman protestants"!
ReplyDeleteAnd so it is no wonder that many catholics now believe that all Christian religions are "equal" and they can meet their obligations by attending protestant services.
ReplyDeletePriests who support this sort of not just "watering down" of Catholicism but outright denial of its supremacy are going to have a whole lot to account for.
The protestantization of the Catholic Church. Install a picnic table "altar" to remove the focus from the High Altar and the Tabernacle. Have the "presider" turn his back towards the Tabernacle and rather put on a show for the people. Then piecemeal destroy Catholic theology. We no longer need the Protestants to do it for us. :{/
ReplyDeleteWell, you're absolutely right about that, Steve. Perhaps I should have titled my post "FURTHER Protestantizing the Faithful"! And of course, how can we be surprised about this protestantization anyway, since the "help" of Protestants was explicitly sought in the creation of the Novus Ordo in order to make the Mass more palatable to Protestants. Now, instead of convincing Protestants to become Catholics, we have convinced Catholics that they might as well be Protestants. The music is more contemporary, ya know. Etc.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHi Dr. Boyd. :)
Been a while since I've been here.
I can remember attending Mass at one of our "cluster" parishes back in 2004 (1 priest four parishes - we live out in the sticks). Anyway, after Mass one of the "Matriarchs" of the parish (a gal I graduated high school with) asked me if I would be interested in attending their "study" of the then wildly popular "Purpose Driven Life."
I tried, well... as best as I can with these silly things, to explain that I support Catholic authors. I asked her if she had heard of the recently released document by JPII titled "Stay With Us, Lord" (Mane Nobiscum Domine). She stared at me a second and said, "No."
I tried to explain that it was the Pope's way of encouraging Eucharisitic Adoration and with this Apostolic Letter he was promulgating the Year of the Eucharist. (blank stare)
[huge sigh]
I could give more - a *lot* more - examples Dr. Boyd, but I know you have encountered this as well.
I am kind of known as the "only Catholics are going to be saved, and everybody else is going to hell"(?), rah-rah, 24/7 Catholic guru/nut who's been on EWTN (in the minds of many anyway - [not my intention to start a Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus discussion here]).
So, I lead "adult faith studies" at other parishes in our diocese. It has been *really edifying*, but... boy I would like to do something in my hometown. The pastor, like you have encountered Dr. Boyd, is kindly and all but would rather I just go somewhere else.
So I do. :)
Catechist Kevin
"Catechist Kevin" - a highly amusing comment! It's kind of a red badge of courage, isn't it, to live in a parish where everyone wishes you'd just go away?!
ReplyDelete