Contaminated Missals & Human Respect

TIA,

The audience of Pope Pius XII with the troops is on YouTube. I am sure your reader who was there would love to see it.

I have watched it numerous time. I still come to tears when I see it. What we have lost and prayerfully will be restored-the sense of the majesty of the Papacy. The links to the film footages are here and here.

     A.T.

P.S. - A little film footage from a documentary shows the allied forces in Rome during the first 90 seconds of the clip. Your reader may recognize some faces. To watch click here.

TIA,

Regarding this news report: Pope Francis Demands 'Legitimate Redistribution' of Wealth

What happened to the Commandment "Thou shalt not STEAL"?

A "legitimate redistribution of wealth" is oxymoronic as you're taking from someone without their permission. This is the Liberation Theology mindset that Pope Bergoglio has come from which is communist to the core, and why he cannot be trusted.

     Gary Morella

Dear TIA,

I read the former Q & A regarding the best missal (here and here), and your reply stating you do not recommend any missal in particular, but it is acceptable if it is from before 1955. Agreed.

However, I purchased a 1940 St. Andrew Daily Missal by Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, O.S.B. of the Abbey of St. Andre, by The E.M. Lohmann Co., St. Paul, Minnesota; Nilhil Obstat by Arthurus J. Scanlon, S.T.D. and Imprimatur by Franciscus J. Spellman, D.D.

I thought this was a good missal, but there is a section which talks about the 1922 rubrics of active participation restored to the faithful, including responding to prayers, priests' liturgical prayers, congregational responses and singing Gregorian Chant and hymns, and dialogue participation at the Mass.

There are also rubrics for the Mass itself, it talks about the people reading aloud one of certain prayers in English at Low Masses, to continue reciting The Lamb of God with the priest, the whole congregation reciting The 2nd Confiteor together with deacon at High Mass or server at Low Mass, as well as other answers to the Communion prayers and, well, it goes on.

Firstly, we ought to warn people to read any missal over very carefully before they buy it, and secondly, should I give this one away, burn it, or keep it? It is a tremendous distraction to me, and I am fraud to give it to anyone, since it might lead them astray.

     Thank you and God bless your work at TIA.

     A.S., a humble 'resistor'

Dear Tradition in Action,

Growing up in the New Church and heavily influenced by the rampant liberalism of contemporary society, I was never properly instructed about the sin of respect of persons. I always wish to be kind and civil around others (both Catholics and non-Catholics), yet I am often not sure when this kindness can turn into flattery or even condescension for a person’s false views and/or wicked actions (this becomes a particular problem when one is forced to converse with non-Catholics and liberals about controversial topics).

In addition, I am also confused about how to distinguish this sin and vice from the virtue of showing proper respect and honor to superiors and to others who are truly worthy of this privilege (e.g. close friends, holy men and women, etc.).

What exactly is the sin of respect of persons, and how can we avoid committing this sin?

     Thank you and God Bless,

     T.L.


TIA responds:

Dear T.L.,

Generically speaking, there is human respect, respect of men or respect of persons when someone, by omission or action, instead of expressing what he is, thinks, loves and believes, conforms his thinking or actions to the mentality of those who surround him. He does this in order to avoid negative comments, critiques and mockeries.

Basically, human respect is a fear of the pressure of society and of those who represent it that is exerted over the individual. This fear per se is indifferent, and can be the expression of a healthy respect for superiors, the state, the country etc. In this case it is also called reverential fear, which habitually helps the authorities to maintain order in society through the observance of the laws. St. Thomas calls it observantia (Summa, II,II, q 102).

What is condemnable is the exaggeration of this fear when the individual sacrifices the practice of superior virtues, especially the virtue of religion. He respects men more than God; hence the name human respect that is given to this attitude. It is correctly identified with cowardice because a person flees from his obligations in order to please others.

Naturally speaking, the fault of human respect takes place when a man avoids his duties, or does a lesser good or an evil in order to please the general opinion of those surrounding him.

Supernaturally speaking, it occurs when, for the same reason, he fails to fulfill his obligations as a Catholic.

Our Lord encouraged us not to make concessions to the general opinion of the world when He affirmed: “Every one therefore that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 10: 32-33; cf. Mk 8: 38; Lk 9: 26)

The Catholic Faith is not to be professed only interiorly, but also exteriorly. When one fails to profess it publicly, at times it may be tantamount to a denial of the Faith, which would mean an apostasy and cause general scandal. For example, a man who is questioned by the authorities of a Muslim country as to whether he is Catholic cannot deny his Faith. If he answers by omissions and ambiguities, he denies God and harms those Catholics who are faithful, weakening them in the practice of the Faith.

For this reason the Code of Canon Law of 1917 stipulated: “The faithful to Christ are bound to profess openly their Faith whenever their silence, evasions or actions might involve implicit denial of the Faith, contempt of Religion, injury to God or scandal to his neighbor.” (can. 1325, § 1)

At other times, it is permissible for him to omit something in order to avoid a grave inconvenience. For example, a Catholic who is travelling through a Muslim country and has an important message to deliver may avoid praying ostensibly before meals to not raise unnecessary attention and prevent him from achieving his mission.

The sin caused by human respect directly depends upon the gravity of the matter that is denied by omissions or actions

Examples of sins of omission:

• A military man who, to fit into the pragmatic ambience of his job, relapses in the practice of the Faith and does not fulfill his Sunday obligation;
  
  
• A person who takes a passive part in anti-religious conversations and does not react against blasphemies spoken or made in his presence;
  
  
• A young man who enters a university and, moved by human respect, does not protest when his roommates bring girls to sleep with them in the same dorm room he uses.

Examples of sins involving actions:

• The classical example regards the lapsi (those who lapse in the Faith) in the time of the early Church: These were those who, moved by human respect, burned incense to the idols in order to be accepted by the Roman world and not be killed. They committed the sin of apostasy and idolatry.
  
  
• A mother who allows her daughters to wear immoral dresses to be up-to-date with fashion; she is also accountable for all the sins of lust that the dress of her daughters propitiate.
  
  
• A professor who, in order to not be criticized, teaches doctrines against the Catholic Faith, although he is convinced they are wrong.
  
  
• A pharmacist who, in order to fit in with everyone else, sells contraception pills or devices, or a doctor who prescribes them.

The excuse that "we must be kind to non-Catholic acquaintances" can lead us to sin if our interaction with them implies denial of the principles, traditions, devotions and customs of the Catholic Church. If we make concessions in these spheres, we sin accordingly.

For more on human respect, please, read N. Iung, entry “Respect Humain,” in Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique, vol. 13, cols 2461-2466.

For more on when and how to show courtesy to others, we also suggest you read this article we published earlier, When to Be Courteous to Others & When to Shun Them?

We hope this summary will help you.

     Cordially,

     TIA correspondence desk