More awesomeness from Cardinal Burke – liturgical abuse ‘strictly correlated’ with moral collapse

We haven’t heard too much from Raymond Cardinal Burke in a while, but he appears to still be staking out his claim as the most orthodox American prelate.  Nice interview via LifeSiteNews, and reader JohnB (I add emphasis and comments):

America’s most senior Vatican prelate says the “moral corruption” of our time is “strictly correlated” with the abuses in the liturgy that came after the Second Vatican Council. [Boy, I agree. Fr. Z is right about one thing: save the Liturgy, save the world.  It would be an enormous step, anyway]

Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect of the Vatican’s Apostolic Signatura, told Zenit’s Edward Pentin that a fitting worship of God is essential to the moral life.

“There’s no question in my mind that the abuses in the sacred liturgy, reduction of the sacred liturgy to some kind of human activity,” he said, “is strictly correlated with a lot of moral corruption and with a levity in catechesis that has been shocking and has left generations of Catholics ill prepared to deal with the challenges of our time by addressing the Catholic faith to those challenges. [Well, of course. The Liturgy is the Source and Summit of Our Faith. If you undermine that through radical changes – even with the best of intentions – there is going to be an enormous impact not just in the Mass, but in all aspects of the Faith, because the Faith is an interconnected whole. Leaving aside the enormous changes made after Vatican II, abuses of the Mass have led to an enormous undermining of the Faith of millions.  But some in the Church wanted the “bastions” of our Faith – that being, Tradition – razed.   Well, I hope they’re satisfied, they are certainly razed now, along with most of the Church.]

…..“It’s in the sacred liturgy above all, and particularly in the Holy Eucharist, that we look upon the love which God has for every human life without exception, without boundary, beginning from the very first moment of conception, because Christ poured out his life as he said for all men,” the Cardinal said. “He identifies himself in the Eucharistic sacrifice with every human life. So on the one hand, the Eucharist inspires a great reverence for human life, respect and care for human life, and at the same time it inspires a joy among those who are married to procreate, to cooperate with God in bringing new human life into this world.” [And since the changes implemented after VII, and all the abuses that have come along with that, belief and right understanding of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist has collapsed. The vast majority of even practicing Catholics now believe the Eucharist is naught be a symbol.  So, that connection between the uncreated, the eternal, with the created and the earthly, has been severed in people’s minds – they no longer know they are literally receiving Jesus Christ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity into themselves. Not only is their understanding of the Eucharist impoverished, but so is their understanding of man. So impoverished, that they will even, under the influence of liberal-englightenment materialism, say it’s OK to murder another human being for convenience. Or “choice.”]

The prelate also stressed that a proper grasp of liturgy is “fundamental” to evangelization.

“It’s the most important area of catechesis: to understand the worship accorded to God,” he explained. “It’s only when we understand our relationship with God in offering worship that we also understand the right order of all the other relationships we have. As Pope Benedict XVI said in his wonderful magisterium on the sacred liturgy, and which he expressed so often, [it consists of] this connection between worship and right conduct, worship and law, worship and discipline.”

Cardinal Burke said it’s a “Communist conception” to say that liturgy is less important than charitable works.  [Booyah!  That’s the million dollar quote.  That’s exactly right]The liturgy “is the source of any truly charitable works we do, any good works we do,” he explained. “So the person whose heart is filled with charity wants to do good works will, like Mother Teresa, give his first intention to the worship of God so that when he goes to offer charity to a poor person or someone in need, it would be at the level of God Himself, and not some human level.” [That is profound, and true.  The Eucharist, Source and Summit of our Faith, powers ALL the good works we do.  It is the constant, massive Source of Grace for the entire Church.  We, of our selves, never do anything “good.”  All the good we do is cooperation with Grace.  St. Alphonsus makes this point all the time.]

Thank God for Cardinal Burke!  I’m sure he has his flaws, we all do, but he consistently points out, in great clarity, the massive problems afflicting the Faith.

I still pray he may be elected Pope one day.  He is the best friend of Tradition in the entire College of Cardinals.