Traditions

Traditions

“Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.”

 ~2 Thessalonians 2:15

   Last night I heard about a mass that was going to be all in Latin and the old style before Vatican II changed the mass and I must say that I was fascinated by this idea. The mass I looked at was for this Tuesday night but as I searched I realized there was a mass for Sunday (today) as well. I never saw the old mass and part of me could not understand why would someone want to go back to the old ways. With that being said I wanted to see what it was all about. 

   I must say that as I watched the mass go one before me and the old traditions happen I fell in love with the mass in a new way. It was absolutely beautiful. There was just something about it that grabbed ahold of my soul and was not about to let go. There was such a sense of reverence that filled the church. A sense of tradition and order came over me and I was in awe of it. It had my full attention and I wanted to take in every detail to the smallest one and hold onto it. It was like looking into the past. 

    I left the mass today different then when I walked in. That is what mass is to do for us.  Mass is to change our course back to God and Jesus. To set that focus back onto the important things in our life. Now, do not get me wrong, mass does do that for me each week but there was just something different today. There was an awakening to the past of my faith. Not just my faith but faith through the generations of catholics before me. The faith is not just of now but of the past and will be for the future as well. I felt connected to a deeper part of the faith. A faith that lasted before the changes and that continued through the changes. 

     The sense of tradition is something that I have always loved in my own life. I believe in every family that traditions should be held and made. It makes us who we are, who we were and who we will be in the future. I am not saying that we need to go back to this way at mass but I wonder if sometimes progress takes too much away from traditions and we lose things along the way. I just felt that I never felt such reverence at mass before today. Again, not saying that the mass each week lacks reverence but to me, it came across stronger somehow. 

     I think I would consider myself someone who wants to see the church as a whole in a forward thinking light and see that we need to improve in areas. To move forward and take every avenue we can to get people back into the church and keep the ones we have already. There has to be a way of modernizing the church with out losing those traditions that keep us rooted in the past. We , as the Church, can show the secession of Popes back to Peter and that includes the mass as well. We are a Church of traditions and I think we need to explore those traditions again. 

     With it being the Year of Faith in the Catholic Church, it is our duty to explore these traditions that we came from. A faith that is rooted in these traditions that has kept the faith going and expanding into the modern world. I also feel very strongly that you find a Latin mass and experience it for yourself. Especially if you have never been a part of it before. I was born after the changes and just always thought it had to change because it was out dated. There is no way reverence could ever be outdated and that I learned today.  We are always called to go deeper, to expand our thoughts and seek the way to God and Jesus. My thoughts did expand today and my faith went a bit deeper as well. If that can happen, then why not explore more traditions of the Church as well. I know I will be. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and expand your thoughts and seek old and new traditions in your faith.