Reader Mail: The Chasm Between Tradition and , Well, Lutherans?

I was blessed to receive the following email which I share with the author’s permission. For context, I had posted about the anniversary of my father’s death.

Hi “Harvey”,

Beautiful post on your dad.  My Mom passed away on January 17, 2015.  She, too, attended daily Mass and prayed the rosary daily.  My Dad (he’s still healthy and active at 87) and siblings shared beautiful email remembrances and Facebook posts.  They all started with the same theme, on how she went straight to heaven.  I’m the only Latin Mass trad in the family, and I mentioned how I pray for the souls of Mom, our siblings, et al. at every Mass, and that even though some or all may already be in heaven, those prayers are not wasted as they inure to the benefit of other souls in purgatory.

Well, you would have thought I threw a wet blanket on the entire affair.  We’re all on terrific terms, but the disconnect between Tradition and the steady--but rapidly accelerating—slide to protestantism among the Novus Ordo goers is starting to widen.

I found your blog when your post on altar boys went kind of viral (if I found it, it had to have gone viral).  It’s been a breath of fresh air.  

Best,

X

First, it amuses me to hear that I went viral. I have said before, and I sincerely mean it, I appreciate each, and every person who finds his way onto this page and am most grateful that anyone reads my blog. The reader does strike upon something very important. The Novus Ordo mass is essentially exactly what he says. It was conceived with an aim toward “welcoming our separated brethren”. One other point I will make (and I think our writer alludes to it very nicely) is this. Pray for the dead. Pray without ceasing.Pray without ceasing.Pray for the dead. Pray without ceasing. Pray for the dead. Pray without ceasing. The Blessed Mother, Mediatrix of ALL grace will redistribute as needed. About the only people our faith teaches us that we can surely know are in heaven are the souls of baptized children who have not attained the use of reason.

Thank you for this beautiful reflection! May God bless you richly and let us all pray for each other. We’re in similar boats. Many of my siblings are not “in tradition” yet but I hope they swim over really soon.

St. Joseph, pray for us!