A Bunch of Sour Grapes

Pelagius famously made St Augustine furious by quoting the works of St Augustine and using them to claim Augustine as being in agreement with him. Augustine, of course, responded – and the response, as we know, was Augustine’s crusade against the Pelagians.

Such, I expect, is also the case with Pope Benedict and many online Catholics. They have convinced themselves that Benedict is trying to move the Church forward by having it return to pre-Vatican II ways. Of course Benedict is interested in continuing liturgical reform and using all available tools to do so. However, he does not have such a limited view of what this means as so many online Catholics are trying to suggest.

We now see many Catholics who were not at the mass complaining about the Pope’s liturgy in DC. They are acting up, suggesting to their readers that the Pope has contradicted himself. Some want us to believe all his writings on liturgy are now merely “theory.” Perhaps, instead of telling us that the Pope is not putting his words into practice, they would be better consider they are doing to him as Pelagius did to Augustine. Others want to still believe that the Pope is one of them; thus, they are telling us something equally silly, that is, the Pope was forced to celebrate mass in a way which was against his will. So many from the online Catholic community, ever ready to criticize bishops and get in their face, telling them that they are going against the Pope’s wishes now have to find themselves doing the same – with the Pope! They are upset they can’t entirely claim the Pope to be on their side. No wonder they are brutal in their attack on the Pope and the mass! Their illusion has been shattered.

Of course, for the few hundred grumpy online Catholics full of sour grapes, there is the great multitude of faithful Catholics, who love the Pope, who love the Pope’s coming to America, and have taken in the greatness of such a wonderful event.

At the mass, one could hear non-Catholic protesters with loudspeakers. They were trying to interrupt the mass. Online, we had Catholic trying to do the same. Since both thought they knew the way of faith greater than the Pope, can someone tell me what separates the two of them?