Time To Clean Out the Bathtub

Msgr. Timothy Stein of the Altoona-Johnstown diocese thinks that traditional worship is just bath water:

“Smells and bells” and other assorted paraphernalia are supposed to help us nurture our relationship with Jesus. When they become a stumbling block, and prevent us from seeing Jesus, knowing Jesus, walking with Jesus, or when they obscure the path to Jesus for others, they must be put aside, or at least, reassessed. There were good reasons for throwing out so much of the bathwater. It had become murky. It was no longer serving a good purpose. It was time to take the baby from the bath, and move on.

Well, if traditional worship was a stumbling block, than contemporary worship is a complete blockade. By his logic, after ridding ourselves of inhibitive traditions, we should be booming, a nation of saints. Would anyone state that there has there been any meaningful growth, either in numbers or in devotion, to the Church here in America, aside from heretical groups? To the contrary, the last thirty years have been rife with apostasy, heresies, and schisms.

Beware the bathwater! Hidden in its depths may be a dose of pretty poison - - the temptation to idolatry - - the temptation to worship fleeting forms while ignoring lasting, enduring substance. Don’t mistake devotion to exterior signs for an interior conversion to life in union with Jesus.

Yes, and don't mistake disregard of external signs for an interior conversion as well. It's just the opposite, if I recall scripture right, a good tree will produce good fruit, a very external sign. The tree that the monsignor is satisfied with has resulted in a lot of bad fruits. How about we dump the bathwater of the Spirit of Vatican II&trade theology, clean out the tub, then get back to the clean water?