What We Can Expect from the Mod Squad Faction

The liberation of the older, pre-conciliar liturgical forms (in other words, not only the Mass, but all the Sacraments, and also the Liturgy of the Hours for those who are obliged to recite it) is a joyous event in the history of our Church -- but not, alas, for everyone. We can expect opposition, and possibly downright disobedience from the Usual Suspects: those who have turned the liturgy into their personal plaything, and who -- for all their talk about "justice" and the "rights" of the faithful -- are only too ready to trample the right of the faithful to an authentic liturgy. We are kidding ourselves if we think the Motu Proprio will be enough in itself to change the minds and hearts of entrenched opponents of the old rites, like the cardinal archbishop who, in an online chat, recently said:

[O]f our 5 million Catholics, only a handful are interested in the Latin Mass. I must focus upon the 99% who need a vibrant Mass that includes them in its celebration.

And, in another online chat, said:

It is not correct to say "traditional worship" in our Church. For a small slice of Church history, Latin was the language of Mass. But the Council moved us beyond that to a new Roman Missal. We must continue forward with the Church. However, it is important to bring with us our Latin hymns and other treasures from the past ages.

As Father Phillip N. Powell, OP of Domine, da mihi hanc aquam! points out, we can expect a determined and deliberate counter-attack from the Mod Squad Faction (or, as he calls it, the Permanent Liturgical Revolution Cadre (PLRC). This attack will come in stages, and we need to be prepared to recognize it for what it is when it comes. We also need to counter it with the best weapon we have in our arsenal: prayer, especially the Rosary.

The main thing to remember is that in the end, like Sisyphus pointlessly rolling his boulder up the hill over and over and over again, the Mod Squad Faction is mired in futility. It hasn't dawned on them yet that they are on the cutting edge -- of forty years ago. It also hasn't dawned on them yet just Whom it is they're pitting themselves against.

Et ego dico tibi quia tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversum eam.

Matthew 16:18