do not attend the TLM because I think I am better than others, or for the smells and bells, or even for the love of Latin. I attend the TLM because I believe, just as the God of the Old Testament was pretty particular in how he wanted to be worshipped, the same holds true for us today. It is through the TLM that I encountered order, and began to pursue it in my own life. Aside from the TLM itself, too many of our sacred traditions have been relegated to things of the past, when in my parish, things such as ember days, days when we fast and pray for vocations and for our priests, are still adhered to. The TLM is so essential that I would challenge each of you to pick a place to move where it is readily available.

I couldn’t agree more that one reason to attend the Traditional Latin Mass is that the God of the Bible is revealed to be especially interested in right-worship. The creation narrative is about building a space where God can be worshipped. The histories of the Old Testament are tales of kings who adulterate Israel’s worship with idols, and the nation suffers for it, or kings who purify and restore Israel to its traditions. The Book of Revelation is a glimpse into the heavenly liturgy in which, as the Letter to the Hebrews teaches us, Christ serves as victim and priest. Butker is alluding to a common conviction among Catholic traditionalists that by abandoning and revising our traditions, we also invited the moral decay of the clergy and laity. He also points out that the Latin Mass isn’t just about aesthetics (although these should never be discounted), but about the substance of the faith communicated through this ritual.