Good morning, this is your wake-up call

I received a very surprising phone call this morning. My first thought upon seeing it was my Grandma was that someone had died or been injured or something awful. 

I definitely did not expect to hear that Pope Benedict is resigning.

I might even consider that worse news than someone dying. What a way to start Lent. I didn't really have the future Pontiff on my prayer list.

When I think about the state of the Church in this country, and the possibility that we could end up with someone less committed to preserving the beautiful traditions of the Faith, I am scared. Moving out of my hometown opened my eyes to the reality of the Church everywhere else. It's not a pretty sight. There are few places that offer the grounded, authentic teaching, without all of the clownish nonsense. I'm not saying every Mass has to be the Traditional Latin Mass, but there is so much hostility towards tradition and a lack of proper catechesis (for priests and lay people!).

We had a guest priest yesterday, and I nearly blew a fuse when he started making derogatory comments about the TLM, while praising the change that came from "the great Vatican Council Two". The change from Vatican II? Confusion, misinterpretation, an incorrectly said Mass... the list goes on, and I wouldn't call it flattering. 

I need to remember that there will always be strife in the Church. I find things the way they are incredibly depressing, and it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Especially when you feel like you are in a spiritual wasteland. (Which, dramatic as it sounds, is how I feel here. Mass sometimes seems more like an occasion of sin than grace.) I get anxiety every time we have a visiting priest, or end up at a different church, that I will have to argue with the priest about giving me Communion while kneeling. That isn't cool.

This has been a wake-up call for me. I have let some things fall by the wayside, and need to get my act together. I need to pray harder for the continuation of the traditions I love so much, especially in light of this. It's easy to take the good things for granted, but they could wither and disappear without the support of our prayers.

Love,

Jess