Catholic Replies
Q. I noticed people collecting for the Salvation Army at Christmastime. What can you tell me about them? — M.D., Arizona.
A. The Salvation Army is known for its charitable works and its role in disaster relief. They spend more than $2 billion a year, and the group in the United States is made up of commissioned officers who proclaim the Gospel and serve as administrators, teachers, social workers, and counselors; about 450,000 “soldiers,” local citizens in communities throughout the United States who help the army’s social service outreach and take part in its musical programs; and many thousands of volunteers.
But while the Salvation Army is a relief agency, it is also an evangelical Protestant group that pursues its brand of salvation through social service. It was founded in England in 1865 by one-time Methodist minister William Booth and established a branch in the United States in 1880. Booth said that “the three ‘S’s best expressed the way in which the Army administered to the ‘down and outs’: first, soup; second, soap; and finally, salvation.”
The Salvation Army’s mission is “the advancement of the Christian religion as promulgated in the religious doctrines…which are professed, believed, and taught by the Army and, pursuant thereto, the advancement of education, the relief of poverty, and other charitable objects beneficial to society or the community of mankind as a whole.”
Their religion is a “Bible-only” religion, one where the Scriptures “constitute the divine rule of Christian faith and practice.” They are opposed to seeking salvation through ritual and reject the use of sacraments (particularly Baptism and Holy Communion) in their worship. They urge their members to refrain completely from drinking alcohol, smoking, taking illegal drugs, and getting involved in pornography, the occult, and gambling. Ordination of women is permitted in the army.
While the Salvation Army has expressed its opposition to abortion in general (“The Salvation Army believes that life is a gift from God and we are answerable to God for the taking of life”), it is not opposed to abortion in cases of rape and incest, when the life of the mother is threatened, or when “reliable diagnostic procedures have identified a fetal abnormality considered incompatible with survival for more than a very brief postnatal period.” It apparently does not contribute to Planned Parenthood.
Q. I’ve noticed that some priests say, “Go, the Mass is ended.” Others say, “The Eucharist is ended.” Are these equivalent? Also, what is the significance of having birch trees around the altar during the Christmas season? It seems to be a recent trend. — S.S., Minnesota.
A. There are four approved dismissal statements at the end of Mass: 1) “Go forth, the Mass is ended.” 2) “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” 3) “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” 4) “Go in peace.”
While the Mass can be referred to as the Eucharist, it seems more appropriate to say “the Mass is ended” since the expression comes from the former Latin dismissal, “Ite, Missa est.”
As for the use of birch trees around the altar during the Christmas season, we don’t know of any significance attached to them, as opposed, for example, to a fir tree or a pine tree. Perhaps a reader can offer some insight on this.
On a related matter, how does one answer the objection that the practice of decorating Christmas trees in one’s home is a pagan custom that is condemned in the Bible? According to a blog by Shaun McAfee that appeared on Catholic Exchange, the Bible quote comes from Jer. 10:3-4, where the prophet says: “For the cult idols of the nations are nothing,/ wood cut from the forest,/ Wrought by craftsmen with the adze,/ adorned with silver and gold.”
But “Jeremiah was not talking about Christmas trees,” said McAfee. “He was writing hundreds of years before Christmas became a celebration. He was pointing out the idolatry of the people of that day and…was warning against the idolatry of those who put their hope in earthly gods and things.” McAfee said that “the objector must understand that Christians are not intent on worshiping their trees and are certainly not putting them in their entryways to deter spirits — perhaps for some carolers and eggnog, but not for protection.”
As we have pointed out in the past, just because a custom, like the use of a wedding ring, for example, was originally part of some pagan rite, does not mean that its use in the future is automatically suspect. Even pagan religions possessed some element of the truth, and the Catholic Church has over the centuries “Christianized” certain practices that were once celebrated by non-Christians.
Q. I have been reading The Wanderer for a few years now and really enjoy the articles because they explain a lot of questions that I have had over the years. I just read a column in the Jesuit magazine America that basically attacked the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for his strict interpretations of the Constitution.
My question is, Why does it always seem that the Jesuits side with the most liberal ideas on the planet, whether it’s backing leftists in South America or supporting an attack on one of the most influential jurists in American history? I have trouble rationalizing their constant leftist, socialistic bent in a world gone mad. — B.P., Colorado.
A. Having received a Jesuit education ourselves when Boston College was still Catholic, we also have trouble rationalizing the leftist bent of many Jesuits. We say many because there are some good Jesuits, including the late Fr. John A. Hardon, who was virtually ostracized by fellow members of the Society of Jesus because of his magnificent defense of Catholic teachings.
There is also Fr. Joseph Fessio of Ignatius Press, who is also persona non grata with many of his fellow Jesuits because he has transformed the Catholic landscape by making available hundreds of solid books and films to Catholics looking for the truth.
Nevertheless, it is usually those Jesuits on the left who receive the most prominence in the academic and political world. Remember, for example, the late congressman from Massachusetts, Robert F. Drinan, SJ, whose pro-abortion stance in the House of Representatives (1970-1980) led many Catholics astray in casting their votes.
Drinan was also instrumental in convening a colloquium at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass., in 1964 that persuaded Robert and Edward Kennedy that a Catholic could support abortion. Joining Drinan at that meeting were Jesuits Joseph Fuchs and Richard McCormick.
It’s a shame that the Jesuits, who were once militant defenders of Catholicism and who could have turned out thousands of equally informed and militant Catholics from their colleges and universities, instead have turned these institutions into secular bastions that graduate men and women whose moral and ethical views are indistinguishable from their Ivy League counterparts.
Why many Jesuits have succumbed to the siren song of secularism is something only they can answer. A leftist stance certainly makes them more popular on the lecture and media circuit than would be so if they promoted the teachings of their founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. They need once again to live up to their motto Ad majorem Dei gloriam and let everything be done “to the greater glory of God.”
Q. My question regards spiritual direction which our Lady encourages Sr. Mary Agreda to obey. But the book is directed to a religious. I would like to locate a priest who has read this book to advise someone in the married state. I have asked many priests if they have read the book, but none of them have. Do you have any suggestions as to how I might pursue this need for spiritual direction? — J.L., via e-mail.
A. You can obtain spiritual direction from a good priest whether he’s familiar with Sr. Mary Agreda’s work or not. Her four-volume The Mystical City of God is a lot to absorb for anyone, and should not be a requirement for a good spiritual director.
