I recently heard a priest preach that "it is a sin of vainglory and pride to think that one form of worship is better than another." In this post I break down this statement to consider its truth and falsity. My intention is not to answer the question whether one form of the Mass is better or not, but to assess whether the question can be rightfully asked, and what it would mean to ask it.
1) Is it a sin of vainglory and pride
2) to think
3) that one form of worship
4) is better than another?
Is it a sin of vainglory and pride?
In a previous post we discussed vainglory and pride. Pride is to seek one’s own excellence inordinately, and vainglory is to wish to appear to excel others. Since both of these vices pertain to one’s own excellence, it is clear that thinking something else excels, even if one is in error in thinking so, cannot fall into the category of either of these sins. Instead the sin of pride would have to be inordinately seeking one’s own greatness by association with that more excellent thing. Or the sin of vainglory would be seeking that association in order to appear better than others. To seek to excel is human instinct and in the spiritual life is even commanded by Christ: Be ye perfect. (Matt. 5:48) ‘Inordinately’ then is a key word here, as is ‘appear.’ Associating with holy people and things is a great way to become holier oneself. If that has the side effect of also making us appear holier, well, there is nothing wrong with that. To avoid the sin of vainglory, the appearance must not be what we seek, and in fact humility would require that we judge ourselves to be less holy than others. If we are seeking to be truly holy out of love for God, we are not seeking the appearance of holiness. As far as pride, St. Thomas says that seeking excellence is inordinate, and therefore prideful, when we attribute an excellence to ourselves either falsely, or on account of our own efforts rather than God’s grace. If we think that our choice to attend a particular form of the Mass means we are better than others, that is false. If we think that the graces we receive from attending a particular form of the Mass is because of our own efforts, that is not giving due to the gratuitous gift of God. But to attend a particular form of the Mass in order to become holier is simply following Christ’s command to be ‘perfect.’
Can an opinion be a sin?
To have an opinion about something, even if it be false, is not in itself a sin. We are free to have our own opinions. The sin is to hold or promote an opinion inordinately. An opinion is uncertain, for example, it should not be promoted as ‘the truth.’ Opinions about others should in charity give them the benefit of the doubt. If an opinion is going to cause division, prudence is required in promoting it.
The exception of course, is with an opinion that is contrary to the Faith or to Church teaching. No opinion of ours should be promoted contrary to the teaching of the Church even if that teaching is not infallible but only authoritative (unless it is part of healthy and respectful dialogue between theologians.) Publicly expressing opinions against authoritative teaching after dialogue has already been shut down by Church authority leads to schism and is called dissent.
Can one form of worship be better?
Since the Church has not defined that all forms of worship are equal, nor even taught this authoritatively, then it would not seem to be a sin to hold that one form is better. Further, the Church has said that many forms of worship are in fact inferior, namely protestant forms of worship and invalid Masses. It also seems reasonable to ask if 'Black Masses' and illicit Masses are inferior. Consequently, it would seem that the Church herself has left the question open to discussion about whether a form of the Mass may be better. This does not mean that it is always prudent or charitable to discuss this question, but that is a different problem.
In any case, it would be helpful to have an explanation of how an opinion is contrary to Church teaching, or how it is held inordinately, rather than an assertion that a certain opinion is a sin.
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