Trending Traditionalism

 I know it's a cliche saying, but the only constant in the world is change. We are always responding and reacting to this or that thing, socially, politically, and in our daily lives. We rearrange furniture because we get tired of the way things are. We swing on the pendulum from a Republican led legislature to a Democratic one and back again perpetually. The Tytler Cycle shows we fall from impassioned patriots to spoiled bond servants in roughly 200 year cycles. 

The movement towards #minimalism and #livetiny was a reaction to the "McMansions culture" and "drowning in stuff" of the 1990's. Things like tiny houses on wheels and keeping only thirty things in your home which "spark joy."  Same with the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) of the Millennial generation, a reaction to their parent's narrative of "work at a job for forty years for the golden watch, then play golf in retirement after 65." Centrist ideas rarely go viral, so most people take things to extremes in reactionary fashion to get trending as a "movement." 

Think about Traditionalism as a "movement" for a moment. It's new (even though it's old), something undiscovered that is now gaining traction. It's gaining traction because of the abuses that went before it. I became Catholic in the 1990's when Beige Novus Ordo Catholicism was the only thing on the menu. Liturgical abuses and progressive softness was commonplace. Traditionalism wasn't even on my radar. Now it's out there. With figures like Dr. Peter Kwasniewski leading the charge for an unapologetic return to Tradition, it's not just old-guard traddie hold-outs you are seeing at your local TLM; it's young families, and former NOers taken with the momentum of "something happening" in the Church. Something pure. Something exciting. 

The Charismatic Renewal of the 80's, the Operation Rescue folks, the "Catholic Land Movement;" all movements are just reactions to what went before them. I tend to think Traditionalism is on more solid ground given the historical precedence (without the social media fanfare) but has the makings of a trending movement nonetheless. 

I have never considered myself a Traditionalist, even from the very beginning and despite attending the Traditional Latin Mass almost exclusively for the past three years. I felt no need to align myself it as a liturgical bloc, though I was deeply grateful for robust, healthy, historically-rooted worship. The veils, the ankle-length dresses, the cliques were just kind of window dressing--nice (and sometimes off putting) but not necessary. I wouldn't walk out of a Novus Ordo Mass in protest, but it wasn't my preference. I consider myself a kind of Centrist in this regard: for the best part of Tradition, and happy to leave what isn't fruitful or helpful. 

I think there is room in Tradition for people like me. The TLM is edifying, but it's not a silver bullet either. There is a kind of safety in the rubrics to keep liturgical abuse at bay, but holiness is not reserved for those who only attend the TLM. Would there be such renewed interest in something so ancient, so "new" were it not for the wonky liturgy and abuses present in the Novus Ordo (which are largely absent in the TLM)? Will those in the Traditional Movement take it too far at some point, and cause a backlash in the way those attracted to Tradition were drawn to it because of the dissatisfaction with progressivism in the Church.  

Are these the early years of yet another movement which we will look back on ten years from now and think "those were the days when we were young and full of ideals?" What will be the downfall of Tradition moving forward--bad apples ruining the bunch? Things getting ordinary and stale when the veneer of freshness and excitement has worn off? Will people be continually pushed to the fringes, but a "middle-way" carved out for ordinary Catholics in the process that respects traditional worship but isn't defined or limited by it? Is Traditionalism just another "thing?" 

I maintain that it is Tradition and Charity which will renew the Church. Time will tell I suppose. In the meantime, let us get our hearts right with God, so we may worship the Lord in spirit and truth (Jn 4:24). Let us stand fast and hold the traditions which we have learned, whether by word of mouth or letter (2 Thes 2:15).