The Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, Roman Catholic Church just recently began having the mass in the official, pre-Vatican II, Tridentine Latin Mass. In this congregation (ironically where I received my First Holy Communion some 18 odd years ago), now the Traditionalists within Catholicism finally will have their rightful place.
In many ways, this whole debate over the Latin mass is somewhat pointless. I am a product of Evangelical Protestantism as much as I am my initial Catholic upbringing. Sola scriptura, sola fides is as much of a part of my belief system (because it is Christian Orthodoxy from St. Paul through St. Augustine!) as is the vast array of Tradition known as Catholicism.
For every sinner in the Catholic Church (including pedophile priests, apostate professors of theology, et al) there are also millions upon millions of ordinary Catholics who daily pray the rosary, venerate icons, and simply believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins and that accepting Jesus as their personal LORD and SAVIOR is essential for salvation.
It was thus with a somewhat curious response that my inner soul yearned for a united Christian Empire as I learned of the president of Mexico's recent exhortation to Mexicans in the United States to always stay loyal to Mexico their homeland. I could care less about Mexico's national sovereignty, nor the Mexican arrogance over their Latin American superiority in the sport of soccer, but the fact that the president of Mexico had a vision of a more unified Western hemisphere transcending borders of nation states was nonetheless striking.
To be frank, I have close friends (one of them highly influenced by the conservative Catholic Group, Opus Dei) who are Mexican nationals. In fact, when I taught philosophy in Indiana, although I was teaching at a staunch Evangelical Protestant liberal arts college, it was the Catholic students from Mexico whom I most closely connected with. These young men had a closer-knit fraternal community than their Anglo-Protestant peers, a greater love of children (including my son Manny who now wants to play soccer just like those Mexican soccer players he saw as a 1 year old!), and to be frank, these Mexican men are probably closer to me in Jesus Christ than many fellow Americans I know who wear either a thin veneer of artificial christianity at best or are just plain old secular humanists at worst.
Perhaps, the future of the United States of America really will look increasingly Latin. No, we won't go back in time to the 13th century and start writing all of our academic papers in Latin, nor will most Catholics even start attending the Latin mass. No, by Latin, I mean the Christian Empire of the West, first the Empire of Rome, then the Empire of the Germanic lands under Charlemagne (A.D. 800) is what the "new America" will look like.
So, no President Calderon, we won't unite 'officially' with Mexico, but yes, we will continue to eat tacos, drink cervezas de Mexico, and pray the rosary along with you, our dear neighboring country . . .
Viva las tierras christianas . . .
Blessings in Jesus,
Rob J. King, Latin Presidential Candidate ("testing the waters" and waiting for the G.O.P. to figure me out . . . :-)
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2 comments:
I am a Hispanic Pastor with Mexican roots. Although my father is Anglo American, my mother is from Juarez, Mexico. I look Hispanic and I consider myself to be such. But I am an American. I do not consider myself to be a Mexican nor do I belong to Mexico. I love my mom's country and there are so many good people in that country that wish to do the will of God. It is the corruption of the Mexican government that should be embarrass of the mass immigration from Mexico to the United States. Instead of stealing and paying their citizens small salaries or hourly wages, Mexico needs to concentrate in the problem from within its borders and take care of its citizens. Taking care of the corrupted government, taking care of their people, taking the revenue of the high oil resources and spend it in their country instead of stealing is a major big step that should be taken before the president calls for a unification of Mexican Americans and Mexicans.
Until then, I will continue to join my mothers authentic home Mexican cooking and supporting Mexican missionaries who are willing to do the work of Christ.
Amen Brother Jesus, amen . . .
It is especially illuminating hearing these words about corruption in Latin America from someone who is originally from Mexico. I am sorry to hear about that.
My "vision" of a unified Christian Hemisphere, however, is less governmental (officially) but more cultural. I too have dear missionary friends in Mexico (Rev. Florencio Guzman is a Spirit-Filled Methodist minister there who influenced my life greatly).
My vision would be for a stronger Christian collaboration for WORLD EVANGELISM, which also includes the technological resources necessary to accomplish this aim. To us cell-phones, lap-tops, etc. are readily available, but less so on the income level of an average Mexican. Here is where we can MOST help Christian missionary work, especially among the growing "Evangelicos" population that can both evangelize lapsed Catholics while also being sent out as missionaries to other parts of the world.
Thank you again my brother.
Love in Jesus,
Rob J. King
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