Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Hermeneutic of Continuity

Aside from being a great blog http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/, the Hermeneutic of continuity is a general line of though of Benedict XVI, now gloriously reigning. There is a nasty tendency of some to interpret the Missal of Paul VI, most recently published in the third typical edition by John Paul II in 2000, as a complete rupture with what preceded it. If one were to apply the idea of a hermeneutic of continuity to the celebration of Mass, than it stands to reason that the celebration of the Novus Ordo Missae of Paul VI should resemble the Ordo Missae as reformed by John XXIII in 1962.
This said, why then is there such a strong reaction to the idea of doing anything that, to some, smacks of "the old way of doing things"? It seems that those who have wrought such destruction over the last 30 years are trying to salt the field in the style of Napoleon on the way out of Russia.
They are sure, for instance, to bury the footings of the altar that they moved half-way into the nave in so much cement as to make it impossible for the next pastor to move it back, at least to within the original sanctuary. It truly will take decades to rebuilt what has been lost.
Let us all pray for long life for the Pope so that he can continue to appoint new Bishops who think as he does.