The Guardian newspapers (who else) couldn’t, it seems, miss their change to fatten up their anti-Catholic average. In an article (http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,,2121355,00.html) they feature the comments of someone in the Jewish anti-defamation league concerning the recent letter from Pope Benedice XVI concernning the Tridentine Mass. In what seems to be a popular passtime, an incumbent Pope is once again accused of anti-semitism. And of course The Guardian is right there to spread the smear far and wide. But this is just so artless that one can’t help but wonder if these folks are desperate for attention, or losing their touch.
What is a Catholic to do in the situation? On Good Friday, we pray for virtually all groups of people, including the Chosen People. We pray that they might come to know Christ, and receive the fullness of the gifts God longs to give to every person who ever lived. By daring to do that, we insult them, apparently, and are anti-semetic. But what if we didn’t pray for them? Would not such an exclusion be also nasty, and anti-semetic? It’s not so much that Catholics can’t win in this situation, but that their tormenters find something they can spin hovever they want to. It’s an answer to an anti-Catholic bigot’s dream.
Still, in its way, it’s good news for Catholics. When those who hate the Church must get notice and make copy through such a situation, it clearly offers proof that they are indeed hard put to come up with anything of substance to throw at the Church. Meantime, everyone who knows nothing at all about the liturgy of the Church (they speak of a “Good Friday Mass” when there is no such thing) and doesn’t like her will continue to ascribe political or worse motives to the recent liturgical actions. Well, I guess we can’t stop them, but we can feel sorry for how desperate they must feel.
