"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me"
(Deuteronomy 5: 6-7)
(Deuteronomy 5: 6-7)
Gaia, circa 410-400 BC,
Antikenmuseen, Berlin
"...OH BEAUTIFUL GAIA, CALLING US HOME..."
So go the words to the song that worships, Gaia, a Greek goddess. This was sung not at some foolish, new-age gathering of sad and deluded feminists or want-to-be-pagans. No, it was sung as the concluding hymn of a televised Catholic Mass sponsored by the Archdiocese of Toronto.
St. Pope John Paul II denounced new-age paganism in these words: "we cannot delude ourselves that this will lead to a renewal of religion. It is only a new way of practicing gnosticism..." (p. 90, Crossing the Threshold of Hope). A review of songwriter Carolyn McDabe's website finds her writings heavily steeped in gnosticism and pantheism. For example, she writes:
We the Gaia women, connected to one another by our international waters, have been awakened and energized through song, reflection and sharing to stand firm as guardians of our precious bio-regions..."
At this Mass, two grave sins were committed: sacrilege and idolatry. A false god was worshipped and the Holy Mass was profaned and treated unworthily. These are grave sins against the First Commandment.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church [2112] defines idolatry as: "The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God...."
The Catechism [2120] defines idolatry in this manner : "sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God... "
The full section on the violation of the First Commandment from the Catechism may be read here.
A full report on this spiritual crime that profaned the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass may be read at Vox Cantoris.
I expect any response of our chancery office to be a long-winded attempt to downplay the incident.
ReplyDeleteThe auxiliary Bishop who handles these things is likely to say something like: "...the song is included in several publications of Catholic hymns, and I am confident that Fr.so and so, who oversees this Mass, would have made appropriate inquiries into the suitability of that song for Catholic worship. You have become fixated on just one line in a song that is actually intended to inspire God's people to examine their relationship with the environment, something our own Pope Francis has asked us to do. Once again, that was only one line (referencing the Gaia earth) and it took place at the end of the Mass. It is unfair to accuse those involved as somehow betraying the Catholic faith. Sincerely in Christ, Bishop ----"
The Chancellor of Spiritual Affairs has responded to my email which included the original post at Vox Cantoris. He has assured me that he will be speaking with Monsignor Massman and will "work with him" to ensure that "it does not happen again."
ReplyDeleteLet us take him at his word.
Vox Cantoris
Aloysius Gonzaga: Your comment was unnecessary. We will simply imagine what you might have said instead.
ReplyDeleteThis junk does infiltrate the Church. We had an ad for a retreat honoring some Hindu goddess in our parish bulletin. It was officially sanctioned by the archdiocese. My husband convinced our pastor that such a thing should never be in a Catholic bulletin. So he took it out. Thankfully, the retreat center run by one of those liberal orders burned down shortly afterwards. God bless you. Susan Fox www.christsfaithfulwitness.com
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting this site, and for your charitable tone. I visited the Toronto diocese website and see that this particular mass is still posted and still includes the song in question. video 13 of 152.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.archtoronto.org/media-centre/videos
All the best from the US. George