food for thought

From Fr Z,

(emphasis mine)
I recently spoke to the pastor of a parish where the bishop permits use of the older, traditional form of Mass with the 1962MR. He told me how the auxiliary bishop used to enjoy coming there to say Mass for them, and did so regularly. He stopped coming, because every time he showed up people were at him with bitter comments and complaints. What they had was never enough and there was little sense of gratitude for what they did have. It wasn’t the message, it was the way it was delivered. Go ahead and argue, “It’s my RIGHT!”, but the priests and bishops you are picking always have the final say: they say Mass - you can’t. My experience in working in this same area confirms what that concerned pastor told me. Too many bishops have learned through bitter experience to say, “Here comes trouble!”, when “conservatives” or “traditionalists” come to him or write, even if he would tend to be on their side. How about a new approach? Were we more “conservative” or “traditional” Catholics to write frequently supportive and positive things, even to the most troubling of prelates, it might happen after a while that bishops would begin to see the “trads” as their real friends and spiritual allies and be embolden so to act in their favor. “We shouldn’t have to encourage bishops!”, you restort. “They should just do it! It’s their job and our RIGHT!” Uh huh… and how is that approach working? Goin’ pretty well, is it?

Edited. In short, let not the disappointing thoughts and feelings get in the way of expressing positive sentiments.

posted with kind permisson from Fr Z.