tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post229953272289413506..comments2024-03-12T04:14:16.271-05:00Comments on The Rad Trad: Christian Communities & RestorationThe Rad Tradhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00899289024837953345noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-36035401312524227132016-02-21T08:37:43.870-06:002016-02-21T08:37:43.870-06:00BTW, it really seems that people nowadays are dete...BTW, it really seems that people nowadays are determined to remain vincibly ignorant of things, and just be passive. "Just let the Holy Spirit do everything and we just pray"? Sorry, I have to reject that kind of nonsense! Anti-intellectualism is so detrimental to the Faith!Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08395971347119256329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-37512425071280427802016-02-21T08:29:57.915-06:002016-02-21T08:29:57.915-06:00"spiritless and impotent intellectualism,&quo..."spiritless and impotent intellectualism," "additional prayer"? Umm, no one here denies they need more prayer, but it still must be accompanied by action. And your insinuations have no basis in fact. It really is trying sometimes to keep being charitable, when I read posts like these. It seems to me you are the one trying to be bigger to "self-superior prigs." Just where in this post do you see this? I don't!Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08395971347119256329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-67093486703482174412016-02-18T13:39:05.234-06:002016-02-18T13:39:05.234-06:00The commoners have spoken!The commoners have spoken!J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04821093432726247774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-10275071337749814562016-02-18T03:40:59.412-06:002016-02-18T03:40:59.412-06:00"The obvious solution is to do something abou..."The obvious solution is to do something about it, but what are we to do about it?"<br /><br />Brother, put aside the babbling for additional prayer. You complain about intellectually inferior sentimentalists being powerless in strengthening the faith, but the faith of intellectuals who think they can save the world by their learning and theorising has always been just as shallow and see-through. Your student order would be infected with the same spiritless and impotent intellectualism as displayed here, it would be just another order of self-superior prigs who think they know something the rest of the Church doesn't. All of the Church's ills will be cured by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has a plan that we can't discern by calculation.Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13858873453982708283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-27162448585534008822016-01-27T13:30:47.373-06:002016-01-27T13:30:47.373-06:00Dear Rad Trad. Your are a thief stealing ABS of hi...Dear Rad Trad. Your are a thief stealing ABS of his delight during his daily visit to count the coins of sadness in his treasury of despair.<br /><br />Well, just to get back at you. ABS has forwarded your ideas to his local ordinary.<br /><br />Take that.Mick Jagger Gathers No Mosquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12879499915093940176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-81136991163129731862016-01-26T23:09:58.445-06:002016-01-26T23:09:58.445-06:00I would entirely concur with your assessment that ...I would entirely concur with your assessment that the crisis of the Roman Catholic Church can be summed up as a failure of priestly education. To that end, I have written a series of essays entitled, "The Blood is the Life". The last of those essays, which has links to the earlier ones, can be found here: <br /><br />https://bernardbrandt.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/the-blood-is-the-life-part-vii-a-modest-proposal<br /><br />I have also written an essay, suggesting a plan of action for Catholic lay people, as I doubt that impetus for change will occur among the clergy:<br /><br />https://bernardbrandt.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/the-sacrifice-of-cain<br /><br />I would invite you to read them both. I would also welcome any comment you might have concerning them.Bernard Brandthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00159541603126407072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-77349544418730955912016-01-26T18:28:56.132-06:002016-01-26T18:28:56.132-06:00I have thought about this myself. I think that is...I have thought about this myself. I think that is the direction we are going, but it won't happen overnight (God-willing... no one wants the sort of catastrophe that would make such a setup the only solution).<br /><br />https://ecclesialvigilante.wordpress.com/2015/06/28/the-death-of-seminaries/<br /><br />https://ecclesialvigilante.wordpress.com/2015/09/13/hypothetical-idea-priests-in-the-common-world/Ecclesial Vigilantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17070187926547373245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-50434264564397600082016-01-26T17:52:42.354-06:002016-01-26T17:52:42.354-06:00I think we need small communities, i.e. 500 people...I think we need small communities, i.e. 500 people at max parishes, with a bishop on the head of every of them, with several presbyters and deacons assisting him.<br /><br />But how do we get there?<br /><br />First, i think seminaries should be abolished.<br />Then, viri probati, both married and not should be selected and consecrated and ordained. Then every parish trains it's own deacons, priests, bishops and theologians.Marko Ivančičevićhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04579400863718513875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-47009816853287464392016-01-25T12:36:33.845-06:002016-01-25T12:36:33.845-06:00In fairness to Opus Dei, all of their activities (...In fairness to Opus Dei, all of their activities (except the retreats for members on doctrine) are open to all, but the low level of discussion about it is inherited from St. Josemaria. They don’t talk much about the Work, because it would interfere with it! Unlike with their cheap (wicked?) imitation in the Legionnaries of Christ, the point is not to make more members of Opus Dei. And the weekly formation circles and monthly recollections are in addition to a regular prayer life, particupation in the sacraments, and spiritual reading. <br /><br />I do, somewhat, sympathize with your points in the post. It's odd. But, I think they would argue that it is their promotion of Christ in the Christian life. <br /><br />The tension, I think, lies in what the church says about becoming holy. Priesthood and religious life are better, but marriage is also good. We can’t denigrate marriage, and we have to preach that by grace you can become holy and you will make it through trials, but that seems to come at the expense of the priesthood. Matthew Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00958673318312786618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-45821183197042777842016-01-25T11:33:29.565-06:002016-01-25T11:33:29.565-06:00Senior is certainly not the only way this could be...Senior is certainly not the only way this could be done; but he's one of the only examples we can point to in post-conciliar America of creating a genuine seedbed of traditional monasticism that actually came off. Athelstanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07346012062816580296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-80130331156594815342016-01-25T09:50:53.984-06:002016-01-25T09:50:53.984-06:00I think that John Senior's example is worthwhi...I think that John Senior's example is worthwhile in this discussion, although I don't know how his temporary success in merging religious wonder and academia can be translated into something more lasting in the U.S. In some respects, he was too successful too fast, so his program was summarily quashed. His bitterness late in life was not helpful in convincing others to follow his lead, either.<br /><br />Opus Dei made a half-hearted attempt at reaching out to local colleges, but they ended up being little more than gathering rooms for a few select students with highfalutin taste and a basic level of orthodoxy. The rest of the students at the same school--even the Catholics--often have no idea that the O.D. group exists. Their weekly or monthly talks don't amount to much more than an adjuration to be studious students before all other virtues.<br /><br />We need many leaders who are both zealous and clever. I don't know if I've met any priests or religious who possessed both qualities to any impressive degree.J.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04821093432726247774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-39532282051628033102016-01-25T08:35:01.117-06:002016-01-25T08:35:01.117-06:00I may have been a little hasty in my judgment myse...I may have been a little hasty in my judgment myself. It is unfortunate that Catholics from the middle classes displaying great talents, go to these schools and get the elite mindset and even fall away. I had a high school friend who went to Harvard for law school; God knows if she's still keeping the faith. It would be a shame to abandon them, even if the rest of the elites come from families like the Rockefellers, Morgans, etc.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08395971347119256329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-74600991725895755692016-01-24T22:22:05.081-06:002016-01-24T22:22:05.081-06:00Fair enough, but I am not optimistic. The oligarc...Fair enough, but I am not optimistic. The oligarchy has spent countless amount of capital propping up the infanticide and eugenics industry (as far back as the early twentieth century). I can pray for their conversion, but I do not expect results.Ecclesial Vigilantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17070187926547373245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-62271381120954423632016-01-24T22:12:37.106-06:002016-01-24T22:12:37.106-06:00Spiritual warfare is not the time to devolve into ...Spiritual warfare is not the time to devolve into class warfare. My suggestion was not aimed at the unique needs of students, although it is there, but of the general welfare of the Church. The fact is that most of the elite talent goes to elite schools and becomes the elite of society. Indeed, they dictate in their generation what will be taught at other schools in the next. In any battle one tries to cut off the leadership or pressure point, not crush the entire opposing army. I would rather try to recapture it for the Church than hide in a corner, scream "they're not Catholic," and content myself in ignorance.The Rad Tradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00899289024837953345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-36431571699204439772016-01-24T20:57:35.775-06:002016-01-24T20:57:35.775-06:001. Rethinking traditional parish structures is com...1. Rethinking traditional parish structures is coming in many places - especially the Northeast, much of Canada, much of Western Europe - whether churchmen want it or not. The crunch is coming. The number of active priests continues to drop, but so too does the number of active laity. I've talked to enough priests up this way to know that many can see it coming, too. The growing popularity of the Oratorians is already a manifestation of the desire for priestly community and companionship (and avoiding the dreaded six year rule).<br /><br />2. The idea of a university-centered religious order is an interesting one, though with some real obstacles. I think we all know how deeply hostile most campus ministries, either at Catholic schools or non-Catholic ones, are to not only anything remotely traditional, but any impingement at all on their turf - and the local bishop will typically be reluctant to gainsay them. In most places you would be forced to set up camp off campus, on a completely independent basis (though even this would require episcopal permission), with all the resources entailed in that. I am not saying it couldn't be done; but it would not be easy. Things might need to get worse before the desperation, or shift in personnel, is sufficient to clear the way - look how desperate English bishops have had to get to bring in Ecclesia Dei orders to save their dying urban edifices in NW England. <br /><br />And it would be a long term project. Even if you could set the order up tomorrow, time would be needed for formation for the first batch of men, something that cannot be rushed. Then try to identify a few candidate schools where you can manage the entree, and use them as test beds to build from. But it would take many years to build up sufficient strength to build up a sizable network of college apostolates. <br /><br />The new monastic foundations do show real promise. I wish that we had had a hundred John Seniors in the United States to create more seedbeds over here. The French cannot do all the work. Athelstanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07346012062816580296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-61343405322223270992016-01-24T19:41:08.281-06:002016-01-24T19:41:08.281-06:00A definite Amen for me!A definite Amen for me!Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08395971347119256329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-73453315445820552152016-01-24T18:36:05.564-06:002016-01-24T18:36:05.564-06:00An addendum. The Church needs presence on every u...An addendum. The Church needs presence on every university, not just the "top" ones. The "Catholic" universities have gone down the drain anyways, so why not put more clergy into the larger public and private secular institutions? Ecclesial Vigilantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17070187926547373245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3348523519788188753.post-11286444801150155492016-01-24T18:29:45.314-06:002016-01-24T18:29:45.314-06:00The creme de la creme institutions are part of the...The creme de la creme institutions are part of the problem. Their oligarchy has run this country for generations and shaped it. My own great-great grandfather was a 32nd degree Freemason from the Northeast, a prominent banker, and a financial supporter of Margaret Sanger. He and his ilk (Rockefellers et al) have been trying to build their paradise of mammon for decades. Let their world, their city of flesh and machines, burn! Let it die!<br /><br />I wish the monasteries a long fruitful success in rebuilding after the ashes settle.Ecclesial Vigilantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17070187926547373245noreply@blogger.com