Traditionalist Pride and Why We Shouldn't Burn Heretics

Being a "Traditionalist Catholic", though I take issue with that title as I've explained before (and here is why), I admit that I myself am guilty of this pride that is all too common among Traditionalists (as Father Ripperger explains here in his "Traditionalist Problems" sermon...see section #2 of sermons).  

We feel that we are better than our fellow Catholics because we possess the truth concerning the Catholic faith and not the twisted and bastardized version pawned off by many prelates today (wittingly or unwittingly).  We think because we attend authentic Catholic liturgies (i.e. the ancient Roman or Byzantine Rites, ect) that we are somehow better than our peers who attend the Novus Ordo.  Sometimes we are more aware of this, but mostly I suspect it is as pride always is: rather insidious and often undetected without much self-examination.

But I know that for me, someone who has been exclusively attending the Classical Form of the Roman Rite (aka Traditional Latin Mass aka "Tridentine" Mass aka "Gregorian" Mass aka Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) for the last 10+ years, that there are many people I know who while ignorant of much are far holier than I.  

Thankfully and mercifully, God granted me the grace to come to know myself not quite 7 years ago.  I came to understand just how little I really knew, just how prideful I really was, and how I ought not trust in my own opinions but rather in the wisdom of the Saints, the teaching of the Church, and words of our Lord Himself.  This is not to say that I am now somehow holy for knowing this, but rather simply that I know that I am not.

One of the most interesting things I was given was the letter written by Saint Thomas Aquinas to a fellow Dominican Brother who had asked his advice on how to study in which he said: 

"Do not consider who the person is you are listening to, but whatever good he says commit to memory."

And this seems to us very counterintuitive, doesn't it?  So often we want to write off this or that person or even this or that priest because they don't seem to be very holy or maybe because they say the Novus Ordo we think they can't possibly be a good or trustworthy priest (I know some people who think this way).

Now sometimes we even may know a priest is good and holy and trustworthy, but then he starts saying things that seem contrary to what we thought was the case.  Are we then simply rejecting what they say out of hand?  Or do we stop and think and consider if possibly we may have had an erroneous position until now?

I know that it is all too easy to be very sure of oneself.  There was a time when I was intolerably dogmatic in every opinion I had and fought vociferously with anyone who opposed me as if they had contradicted the Sacred Scriptures or one of the Holy Councils.  But thanks to the council of a good priest and the grace of God I began to be more reflective and thoughtful, and most importantly I learned a little humility.

From then on if I encountered something that seemed contrary to what I believed to be true I would not dismiss it out of hand, but rather I would try to discover what the truth in fact was through prayer and study.  And I will be honest that this made for some painful realizations of past error and some changes in opinion that threatened to alienate even some of my closest friends.

One such experience that I had in the fall of 2015 is illustrative of what I am getting at: at Sunday Mass I listened to a sermon preached on the Gospel [Matthew 13:24-30], which you can listen to here (it's only 8 minutes). 

My initial impression was to reject what Father was saying and to cling to the notions I previously had on the subject, but remembering my rule for such occasions I decided to look into what he had said to see for myself what the truth was.

I took time over the next week and spent time praying and meditating on what he had said and also upon the commentary given by Saint Thomas Aquinas in his Catena Aurea on this very Gospel, which you can read yourself here.

And I stand corrected.

Let us then be humble in our discourse with others, and especially with priests and religious.  Let us seek to understand their position if we do no understand it or do not agree.  Give then a chance to explain themselves, and/or spend the time to research the subject yourself, and most importantly spend time in prayer and meditation on the subject and ask our Lord for light.

Delve into the rich patrimony of the Catholic Church, especially in Her Ecumenical Councils, decrees of Popes, and the clear teaching of the Doctors of the Church, much of which you can find online here.