I notice that in your profile you didn't even fill out the STATE nevermind the city you live in
Actually I did, and a couple of people mentioned it in private messages when I first joined--but the profiles seem to have been revised since then. I filled it out again: "Fort Wayne, Indiana."
but all I can say is that "mileage may vary" when it comes to the Novus Ordo.
Well, that's an improvement over the previous recommendation not to attend it without regard to location, unless necessary to fulfill a Sunday or holyday obligation--and even
that was a lot better than some other recommendations I've seen, which were discussed in another thread.
It is extremely dangerous to the Faith. That doesn't mean it destroys every faith it touches -- just a lot of people's faith. The fruits are obvious to anyone with eyes.
Hey, I don't imply that
you lack eyes just because you don't agree with
me. :smile: The fruits would be obvious to anyone who learned, from research or discussion with Catholics who lost their faith, that they lost it for reasons actually connected with their attendance at the "N.O." Mass (if they did). Otherwise, no.
As for the claimed extreme danger to the faith, you acknowledge that this exists or doesn't, depending on what you get in the lamentably large variety of "N.O. flavors":
The problem with the Novus Ordo is precisely that there IS no consistency. The priest has to inject so much of his own personality, that there are as many flavors of Mass as there are priests. If you get a conservative priest, you have a conservative N.O. Mass and you can get by without too much damage to the Faith. But 3 miles away, the priest might be completely different, and so will the Mass be.
In that case, let's hope that 3 miles is not too far for you to travel to avoid the objectionable priest, and that your faith is at least strong enough to suffer
no damage from the lesser faults of the conservative priest (whatever they may be). With any luck, the conservative priest might even recognize that he does
not have to inject a lot of his personality into the celebration of any version of the Mass.
Let's just say that Catholics in California don't have the luxury of what you suggest -- going to daily N.O. without losing the Faith.
Funny, I went to college in California, and I know a number of Catholics out there who do just that. It may be difficult, but it can be done. Under the unfortunate circumstances, surely St. Pius X--the great proponent of "[t]he desire of Jesus Christ and of the Church that all the faithful should daily approach the sacred banquet," so long as they're free, and intend to stay free, from mortal sin--would approve.
Blessings,
Don McMaster
