The story of George Tiller, the notorious abortionist gunned down by a vigilante, is very sad on many fronts. First, there is the loss of a soul that will be eternally tormented by the angry face of his God and the faces of his victims. Next is the testament against this country for allowing, nay, protecting this murderer. Then there is the whacko who took the law into his own hands. Finally, to add insult to injury, there's the Archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas, who threw doctrine to the wind and offered Mass for the repose of Tiller's soul [article].
Lutherans denounce the practice of praying for the dead, so it is practically an insult to them to offer prayers for one of their deceased. From a Catholic perspective, it serves no purpose to pray for the soul that dies a slave to Luther, because it cannot enter Heaven. This is the case at hand, for the man died suddenly in the house of Luther while still an unrepentant abortionist. Could Alfred Hitchcock have filmed a starker portrayal of a tragic end? So why did Apb. Naumann offer Mass for Tiller? Symbolism, and faulty doctrine.
The tradition of the Church on praying for the deceased is abundantly clear: "Mass is offered only for the members of the Mystical Body," according to St. Augustine. "Neither commemoration nor chanting is to be employed for catechumens who have died without Baptism," according to the (regional) Council of Braga (AD 563). If not for catechumens, then why for Lutherans?
Even more to the point, however, is the ancient liturgy itself. Had Abp. Naumann used the Traditional Mass for the dead, how far, do you suppose, would he have progressed before choking on these words (emphases added):
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants and handmaids, the remission of all their sins...
(Epistle, Apoc. 14, 13) In those days, I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth. Yes, says the Spirit, let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them."
(Gradual) The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance; he shall not fear an evil report."
O Lord, Jesus Christ, glorious king, spare the souls of the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the deep pit;
(Secret) O Lord, look with favor upon the gifts we offer you in behalf of the souls of the faithful departed.
(Postcommunion) O Lord, may the prayer of Thy suppliant people, we beseech Thee, O Lord, benefit the souls of thy servants...
No. Tiller was not a servant of the Lord, sad to say. And tragically, his works follow him.
Pray the Rosary for an end to abortion.
War is hell, and this is a spirtual war. We got to fight, and our only methods of fighting is prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Most Immacualte Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Because Archbishop naumann suffers from the great heresy in the theology of the church today, SENTIMENTAL THEOLOGY, its what i feel and i must explain away the hard teachings of JESUS!!
Cyprian,
You're being a bit harsh. Tiller was only proving that he was a pious reformer of the old school. He sinned boldly; I bet he believed more boldly.
Not that such a thing would do him any good, mind you...
As for praying for the baby-killer -- and especially offering Masses for him -- maybe we should recall “Reflections on a Flea,” by a poet-priest we all know and love:
And by the way,
Speaking of how to pray,
Dogmas come first, not liturgies.
(The Leonard Feeney Omnibus, p.386)
Great piece. Keep it up.
Ha! Thanks, Carlos.
Fr. Feeney is correct, of course, and I'm glad you brought up this point. The liturgy is a great repository of the faith, but dogma comes first. Likewise, restoration of the Mass will not necessarily restore the faith. The faith, in the US and Europe at least, was declining long before the liturgy was destroyed, as Fr. Feeney discovered. The ancient liturgy wasn't sufficient to withhold the onslaught.
However, the descent into the abyss has only accelerated since Bugnini's Mass.
ED, You are so right about SENTIMENTAL THEOLOGY clouding the thinking of most Catholics these days. It's not new, though, as this great article shows: http://catholicism.org/sentimental-theology.html