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Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 12/26/2008


Question
Father, thank you for having this web site.  I just now found it.  I am 78, a widow and live in the Arkansas Ozark mountains.  I followed the crowd all those years after Vatican II as nowhere else to go, so I thought.  Now, I want to attend a traditional Mass but there is none near.  The nearest is a Latin Mass in Berryville, 90 miles roundtrip,  by a priest who was ordained since Vatican II.  He says three Masses each weekend, two new order and one Latin.  Am I okay to attend that Latin Mass when I can or do I best stay home, read my Mass prayers, pray the Rosary and read other spiritual books on the saints, etc. and pray for the Pope to revoke Vatican II?  Thank you so much for a reply.  God Bless you in your wonderful work.  Billie

Answer
Hi, Billie:
Merry Christmas, and thanks for the question.

I guess that I don't completely understand your question.  I was ordained since Vatican II, in 2001.  I offer two Ordinary Form Masses on Sunday morning, and then the Extraordinary Form in Latin on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM.
Why wouldn't you be ok to attend that Latin Mass offered in your area?  Have you actually studied the documents of Vatican II?  Maybe it would help you to get a better perspective on what Vatican II actually taught.  How would the Pope go about "revoking" that which is authentic of Vatican II?  Pope Benedict XVI makes it very clear in his writings that the crisis we are experiencing in the Church is due to the misrepresentation and misapplication of the directives of Vatican II.  He makes it clear that there must be a hermeneutic of continuity with Tradition, and that Vatican II is not a "supercouncil" with more weight or authority than any other Church Council in history.  It was not to be a cause or occasion for "rupturing" or breaking with all of Church history, etc.  Stay on board with the Pope, and you will be ok.
+ God bless you, and thanks for your concern.

Fr. Timothy Johnson

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Fr. Timothy Johnson

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A Traditional Catholic Priest, validly and licitly ordained, incardinated legally and canonically in the Diocese of Fargo, and in good-standing with my Local Ordinary (Bishop) on active assignment at a rural Tri-Parish. I can provide honest and balanced answers to questions on topics pertaining to Traditional Roman Catholicism of the Latin Church (Councils of Trent and Vatican II)and a lot about the Eastern Catholic Churches, including the Sacred Liturgy, Sacred Scripture, Church History, the use of the Latin language, the tradition of Sacred Music, and current events in the Catholic Church from a traditional, historical and balanced perspective.

Experience

I have been ordained a Roman Catholic Priest since June 2001.

Organizations
Knights of Columbus; Church Music Association of America (CMAA)

Education/Credentials
Ordained Priest, 02 JUN 2001; Ordained Deacon, 27 JAN 2001; MA - Dogmatic/Systematic Theology; MDiv - Professional Degree from Seminary; 2-Years formation with Canons Regular of Premontre including studies and experience in Sacred Liturgy, Chant, Latin, Sacraments, Spirituality. BA - Scholastic/Thomistic Philosophy; BA - Liberal Arts; AA - General Studies.

Past/Present Clients
I serve 3-small, rural Parish Communities in Easter North Dakota
I converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1981, at the age of 15. Over the years I have done work as an organist, cantor, and choir director for the Latin Rite (English & Latin) Mass (Liturgy of the Eucharist), and even for the Hours of the Divine Office. I have worked as a cantor for a Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church. Presently my pastoral and administrative duties as a Catholic Priest do not allow me as much time as I used to have to devote to Sacred Music; but for my weekend Masses and Solemnities within my Tri-Parish, I offer High Sung Mass in English. Weekday Mass is typically Low Mass (recited Mass) in English, though on occasion I will offer the "Tridentine Mass" in Latin, which I usually offer on my "Day Off", as well. And now, in light of the "Motu Proprio" by his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI placing the extraordinary usage of the Roman Rite back into the mainstream of the Catholic Church, I have been offering a regularly scheduled SUN, 2:00 PM Tridentine Latin Mass with a community of the faithful that has a stable existence.

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