Whether you like it or not, it has been proven that devout Catholic youth want the ancient, spotless, orthodox, unchanged, and holy Catholic faith. In other words, we desire to have our churches teach what the church has always taught, and to worship the way it has always worshiped as handed down by the fathers of the church. (Regardless of Rite). This means that we do not want churches and liturgies in which reflect what the world has to offer, but instead we want a church and a liturgy that emphasizes the heavenly reality in which we are in; contradicting the ordinary world just like how God instructed His temples to be in scripture. (Exodus 25, Chronicles 28).
It has been commonly misunderstood that the Church should reach out to the youth by “getting with the times” in where the ways of old are thrown out of the picture. Some examples involve the removal of icons and Holy images for felt banners and modernized art, substituting ancient chant for guitar and pop/rock music, celebrating liturgies where balloons are tied to the altar and even tossed throughout the church etc. (Life teen for example).
But when you truly speak with young devout Catholics with humility, especially us converts; such things are a huge turn off since what can be found in a church that behaves in this fashion can also be found in the every day world. (Or even non – Catholic Churches). Being that the younger generation is the future of the Church, this should be taken into serious consideration by the hierarchy.
When we examine the fruits of changing the church to make it more reflective of the modern world, can we honestly conclude that the church has preserved the faith, increased church attendance, and improved its vocations? If we are going to be truly honest with ourselves, we cannot come to this conclusion.
When we look at many from the generations that have gone before us in the last 50 years, it is evident that their approval of innovation has only planted seeds in which gave birth to bad fruits. It has resulted in the approval of heterodoxy; which explains why the faith has been either watered down or thrown away all together in Catholic Churches around the globe in order to please the world and reflect it. But when we examine scripture, who does it say is in charge of this world? It says the devil. (John 12:31, 2 Cor 4:4).
This explains why the church is in the scandal that it is in today. After speaking with him personally, Father. Bill Casey of the Fathers of Divine Mercy stated that: “It should be of no surprise.” This is because instead of many in the post Vatican II generation guarding the truth with prayer, fasting, and keeping what was handed down to us; they have let their guards down to later allow the church to be scourged, punched, and kicked by its enemies – to only allow it to become sick and bruised within and out; letting it suffer as they refuse to treat her wounds.
Many have given the impression that Jesus Christ shall bow to this world instead of suggesting that the world shall bow down to Christ. This can only parallel with the book of Matthew in where Satan has asked Jesus to bow to him while tempting him in the desert (Matt 4:9), offering the pleasures of this world in return. (Matt 4:8). And when we look at many of the clergy within the Church that promote error and heresy, how can we deny that such shepherds have betrayed their flock in order to be given pleasures of this world? I.E. money, fame, approval, acceptance, etc.
Therefore, as stated above, the clergy of the church and the older generation should take into consideration what has happened as a result of innovative practices. They should also consider the requests of the Catholic youth to restore authentic Catholicism since this will be the only way to fix the church. After all, what do we have to loose by restoring Orthodoxy within the Church?
If we are continuously silenced, and labeled as “rigid”, even by the Pope himself, then how is it that we will be able to fix the church? Wouldn’t silencing those that have a true care for the church make you the church’s enemy? Wouldn’t silencing devout Catholics that actually care about the faith only help spread errors throughout the church, as we have seen by clerics such as Father. James Martin in whom promotes homosexuality? (Something that is not only against Catholic teaching, but against the scriptures themselves!)
In the words of Father Bill Casey, if we are going to help fix the church in the midst of the chaos that it is in, we must “start with ourselves.” This means being obedient to what the church has always taught and not allowing our pride to influence what we believe the church should teach. This is something we have recently witnessed at the youth synod where bishops and liberal non Catholic youth have given the suggestion that the church must accept sodomy.
The unfortunate reality is that many laity and even clergy inside the church continue to defend the wickedness that we continuously see, even though they are aware that the Church has dogmatically condemned their errors. In the words of St. Augustine against the Manichees, he stated: In Christ’s Church, those are heretics, who hold mischievous and erroneous opinions, and when rebuked that they may think soundly and rightly, offer a stubborn resistance, and, refusing to mend their pernicious and deadly doctrines, persist in defending them.”
Being that we live in a time in where the church is being plagued and attacked from within by those in whom preach the heresy of homosexual acceptance and other forms of heterodoxy, how much more relevant is this quote today? Again, the voice of the devout Catholic youth shall be listened to with an open mind, and the clergy must restore orthodoxy in which we desire to have if we are going to save the church.
Disclaimer: We are not blaming the older generation as a whole for the modern crises that we are in, nor are we blaming the Second Vatican Council.
Holy Synergy 