Reforming Our Vocabulary

Welcome to all who love our Catholic Faith, and desire to express that love by helping to restore the Traditional Latin Mass "back to the people."  Our Lord Jesus Christ has given His holy Church the mandate to offer the Sacred Mysteries of the Eucharist. This is the most noble act of perpetual gratitude for the gift of His life-giving Body and His most prescious Blood. The Mass is a dramatic re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Christ, begun at the table of the Lord's Supper and culminated at the Cross of Calvary. 

The Mass must be serious, but at the same time filled with joy. It is always and everywhere meant to lift us up, as Christ was lifted high on the Cross.  The joy of the Faith ought to give us a positive outlook on life, on the Church, and especially on divine worship.  As Catholics, united at the Cross, the instrument of salvation's hope, our discussion, our fellowship, indeed our prayer, is meant to have the same focus.

Our worship comes from the Cross of Christ, which gives us unity in direction. For almost all in antiquity, death by crucifixion was looked upon with derision. The Holy Cross itself was percieved as an object shame or a disgrace. Because of this, many turned their backs on Jesus. But He will never turn His back on us.

Jesus Christ, the Son, always leads us to the Father through the gift of the Holy Ghost. In so doing He does not turn His back on us, but rather shows us the way.  The Catholic priest, who at the altar, stands in the person of Christ, the Head of the Church does so by divine and sacred mandate. Through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the priest shows us the way to the Father. He does so, facing "liturgical east," oriented toward that direction to which we look in eager expectation of Christ's return. For this reason, all Catholics ought to be saddened by the negativity of comments which suggest that, at the Traditional Latin Mass, the priest is celebrating with his "back to the people."  The distortion of language to serve any agenda contrary to the preservation and propogation of authentic Catholic Faith and the culture which it inspires, must always and everywhere be rejected. 

One way we can assist the restoration of Tradition, is by reforming the vocabulary of the discussion, so that we are not intellectual slaves to those who would have us change the way we believe by changing the way we speak.  Perhaps it is time for Traditional Catholics to assert our right to "tell our own story," always being positive and not negative in our appeal to reason. This objective is one of the motivations for the blog, "Back to the People."

Benedictus Deus in Donis Suis