"You don't know how it was back then!"

[mattc]

As an example: my Dad (b. 1924) told me how he was once literally terrified  of going to Hell when he, as a child, accidentally ate part of a hamburger on Friday, not realizing what day it was.
 

 Now that is faith! :-)
 
 

But he was pretty clueless about some very fundamental things about Catholic theology (e.g., what the Mass actually is. He could have told you "it was a Sacrifice," but not have been able to tell you what that meant, why it was necessary, explain the Catholic teaching on such things, defend it against Protestant misunderstandings, etc..)
 

 Vox, do you have some links on those topics about the Mass? I'm not sure I could defend it at that level if I had to, but I would like to be able to do so.

[Credo]

I think modern man is extremely conceited.  It's not only the Church that was "terrible" in the old days, everything was terrible in the old days.  Modern man is absolutely stuck on this notion that he has made progress in every area of life.  It seems our ancestors were idiots about everything.  So that would include the Mass, according to their way of thinking.

Amen to that! Everything's just wonderful in our day (even though no one seems to be happy.....).