Sunday, June 04, 2006
Lessons From the Rightward Fringe
You know, there's a lot I like about the NLM and blogs like it. I'm serious. First, they keep me honest. The best of the traditionalist arguments have something to say to mainstream Catholicism. We're better off for listening to reason and considering it.
We've lost a sense of awe and mystery so let's get it back.
Naturally, they misdate the onset of the problem to the 60's rather than the 40's, and they blame Vatican II instead of Catholic schools in suburbia, but hey; I can go with them on the first part at least.
Chant has a lot to offer Catholic spirituality. So let's firebomb the printshops of the Big Three liturgical publishers.
Breaking this open (Catholic liberal term, there) I can agree with them on chant. I prefer plainsong and Renaissance music to the Classical, Romantic, and even the Baroque ... by a long shot. And I've had submissions turned down by two of the big three, so I can feel their envy. I still say I'm not a terrorist, so the pyro shtick doesn't thrill me.
But on this thread, all the loons have roosted. Seems like the reviled heretic Bishop Trautman got some laughs at the expense of Bruce Harbert's ICEL. Why, those good Catholics probably didn't even understand what they were laughing at. (Mom, apple pie, and incense.)
You think I'm exaggerating?
It's a wonder then that he was even able to address this lay Catholic mission conference of 41,000 since clearly the people there could have no comprehension of what he was even critiquing.
In my second post on the thread, I called out a priest who later had the decency to admit he overstepped.
Your point is well taken. By the way, I especially like your shorthand "reform2" for "the reform of the reform." (Mea culpa)3.
Concession with a tasty bit of humor. You gotta like the class, my friends. Sad to say, that's where it ended.
The consistent rendering of "Trautman" as "trautperson" or "fishperson" really shows the depth of language skills on the right fringes. First, the German adjective traut doesn't have anything to do with fish. It means intimate (in the sense of a close friendship) or cozy (in the sense of a comfortable home). And the indefinite pronoun man (as opposed to the noun Mann) has a more generalized meaning than "person." It's indefinite, folks; not specific. Though I'll concede the name probably did use the double "n" at its origin to signify something along the lines of "good buddy." But if you can't trust the fringe with the German, do you dare let them loose with the Latin?
Two things: maybe the reform2 folks should try to master Latin first, and maybe they don't want the Bishop of Erie to be their good buddy; his attitude toward liturgy is too fishy for their tastes.
What slays me on this thread though, are the prim promises to pray for Trautman's "conversion," accompanied by bits like this:
- utter loss of respect for the Eucharist
- needs prayers ... that he may save his own soul
- those who've made it their mission to destroy the liturgy
- this execrable man
- silly and self-indulgent
- I would hold my breath to exhibit this prelate any charity until he ceases from attacking Our Lord's Holy Church
- spoilt child
- a scourge for decades
Does the confluence of the words plank, speck, and eye have any relevance in this situation?
