Sunday, January 20, 2013

Yet Jericho Thrives

Today, I attended a Mass so appallingly dreadful as to be barely recognizable as Mass. I could comment extensively on the many liturgical abuses, but will confine myself to saying that the only thing it lacked was a troupe of scantily-clad, middle-aged women prancing around the altar.  I'm sure if I were to stick around that parish long enough, I would see that.

This highly-feminized, quasi-New-Age version of the Mass got me to thinking about Joshua throwing down the walls of Jericho.  The excellent Douay-Rheims glosses tell us that the destruction of the city of Jericho in the sixth chapter of the Book of Joshua is a type of the proclamation of the Gospel.  Jericho symbolizes iniquity.  The seven trumpets are the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The priests blowing the trumpets symbolize the priests of the New Covenant preaching the Gospel; the throwing down of the walls of Jericho stands for the conversion of sinners.  You will also recall that the Ark of the Covenant, which was carried around the city of Jericho, is a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mediatrix of Grace and the Exterminatrix of Heresies.  Joshua pronounces a curse on those who would re-build the walls of Jericho.  We hear an echo of this curse in the Gospels, when Jesus says that it would be better for one who scandalized any of His little ones if a millstone were tied around his neck and he were cast into the sea.

Yet, in our time, Jericho's walls are rebuilt, and Jericho not only thrives but prepares great strokes against us.  We shouldn't wonder at this.  Half a century ago, we decided to open the windows of the Church to the world, and in came the Zeitgeist.  In came the chill blast of modernism; secularism; hatred of established authority, coupled with authoritarianism under the guise of "tolerance"; the contraceptive mentality; tight-lipped parsimony; and socialism under the guise of "social justice."  Our faith is watered down; we build ugly houses for the Eucharistic Lord in Whose Real Presence we no longer believe; we discarded as "primitive" and "immature" our devotion to the Mother of God; and our worship has eroded to little more than a weekly cocktail party.  Our priests are no longer blasting trumpets at the walls of Jericho.  They are blowing kazoos.  Even a house of cards could withstand such an assault.

It is time, and past time, to take up the trumpets again.  Bring back traditional worship, and the authentic Catholic faith.

6 comments:

  1. I guess it'll go on until I've offered up enough of these Masses for the intention of restoring the TLM here. Sigh.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the great post. We desperately need to bring back the TLM and real Catholicism. I'm tired of seeing bad Masses and nuns on busses and walking in labyrinths.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I feel your pain!

    Check out the latest Vortex: Mass for Dummies

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEA6-1d7cro&feature=player_embedded#!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm sorry, Anita. Few things are more painful than to have to watch Our Lord being insulted by this kind of Mass. I hope you don't have to go back to this parish any time soon

    ReplyDelete
  5. NBW: Thank you!

    Adrienne: I just checked out the Vortex. Right on, as usual!

    Dymphna: you and me both!

    ReplyDelete