.png)
“Amy, you cannot live so close to such beauty and not go see it!”
On her way home back to Ohio from my house, that’s what my best friend texted to me after her family stopped off to see The Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.
My goodness, Catholic Pilgrims, the beauty in this church is stunning.
Photos are forbidden, so I wasn’t able to take any, but if you watch EWTN, you may have seen the inside.
I’ve never seen a monstrance display more beautiful. Christ held up high, surrounded by angel statues amid all the tasteful gold coloring is just striking.
And while we were there, the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration were saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and they sounded like angels. Is it a prerequisite to sound like an angel before becoming a nun or is it the product of holiness? I don’t know, but it was simply beautiful.
You know, so many people gripe to us Catholics about our beautiful churches.
“Think of the money that could be used for the poor!”
“So extravagant. God would want that money used for the poor.”
This complaint reminds me so much of Judas Iscariot’s comment about Mary anointing Christ’s feet with costly oil in our Gospel reading today from John 12:1-11.
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?”
Our beautiful churches house Our Lord in the Eucharist and that was never more on display to me than here in this church. With Our Savior raised high, surrounded by material beauty, with angelic voices perpetually adoring Him, it is evident that Our King is present.
Heaven and earth meet inside our Catholic Churches where the True Presence of Christ is acknowledged through splendor and majesty.
We could tear down all our Catholic Churches, sell everything to care for the poor and within no time, we’d discover that we “always have the poor with” us, just as Our Lord said. And we’d be starved of so much good beauty.
It is a both/and, Catholic Pilgrims: Take care of the poor to care for corporal needs and build beautiful churches to care for all our spiritual needs.
If ever in Alabama, my gosh, make time to see this Shrine. Thank you, Mother Angelica, for this holy place.
Have a blessed Monday of Holy Week.
Have you ever gotten snagged by a headline like this on a video? "See what this former childhood star looks like today!" The other day, I saw a short video that had a picture of an emaciated, drug-addicted woman as its thumbnail and it said, "This 80s Beauty Now On the Streets!" Well, I bit and started watching. I quickly noticed was that the lady on the cover and the lady actually in the video were not the same people. They had put an AI generated homeless woman on the front to lure people in. The actual "80s beauty" was a different person. I stopped the video and thought to myself, "What an utter waste of time. I was so curious about something that's so insignificant, so pointless that's it's a bit embarrassing that I got suckered in." Then, about a week later, I started watching a long video on what dog breeds not to buy. This is utterly stupid for me to watch because a. I'm not a dog person and b. I'm not even remotely considering getting a dog. But..I was curious. Yesterday, while I was reading St. Augustine's book "Confessions" for my podcast, he was talking about the sin of curiosity. He was talking about how when our senses want something beautiful they know where to find it. Our eyes look at a beautiful work of art, our ears will listen to a harmonious tune, our nose seeks out fragrant perfume, and our sense of taste seeks something delicious. He goes on by saying that oftentimes to satisfy our curiosity, we seek out things that are in the reverse of the beautiful. People will look at a corpse, they will go to the theatre to see disfigured people put on display, they will read about something grotesque. None of these things add value to our lives or draw us closer to God. The information age can easily cause us to slip into the sin of curiosity. It's not bad to be curious, but what we are curious about is the problem. Or, if what we are investing all our time in leads us away from valuable time spent with family, friends, or God then it is a problem. The good, the true, and the beautiful are the things we should seek, Catholic Pilgrims. Nearly everything else is noise meant to distract us. Have a blessed Thursday.
Continue ReadingHey, Catholic Pilgrims, remember our small-town church series? Well, it's back! Well, before I started doing my ancestry research, I thought little of Kentucky. But, turns out, I had kin in Kentucky for, at least, over a century. Earliest that I can find for when they arrived in Kentucky was in 1803, though it might have been sooner. Our small-town church today hails from Falmouth, Kentucky up in the north of the state. This isn't where my family was located; they were more in the middle and the southern part of the state. There was an earlier church built in 1860, but the one you see here was dedicated on September 12th, 1880. If you look on a map, this church sits right next to Licking River and that's a problem when banks overflow. In 1937 and 1997, floodwaters caused a lot of damage to the church and its property. Those waters might have taken a "lick" out of things, but they couldn't swallow up things completely. I've only ever spent time at the very top of the state and on trips driving through. Now that I know my family resided in the state for a good bit, I'll have to give it more of my attention someday. But, if you are ever in Falmouth, Kentucky, stop by and visit St. Francis Xavier Church. Have a good day, Catholic Pilgrims.
Continue ReadingTwo weeks ago, my son and I were driving from California to Missouri to see my dad. My husband had to go TDY, so he couldn't come with us. I thought it would be fun to stay at KOAs in the cabins they have in order to make it a fun trip. Last summer, our son had a blast at the KOAs playing in the pool, getting ice cream, and playing the other outdoor games they provide. Our first night in a KOA was in Utah on a Sunday. After we got settled in our cabin, I decided to go look for dinner. I thought it would be fun to get some things at the Walmart deli section and have a picnic. Well, there wasn't much I could eat (gluten-free), so I decided to go hunt for a restaurant. For anyone who has driven through Utah on a Sunday, you know that most things are closed. That was the case for the small town we were in and as I drove around not finding any place open, I started to get frustrated. I'm happy that the Lord's Day is observed, but it was just something I hadn't accounted for. My son was growing increasingly upset. He was worried that we weren't going to be able to eat. Finally, we found a BBQ restaurant that was open. When we got back to the cabin, we called my husband. Our son started getting teary-eyed when he was telling his dad that he had been worried that we weren't going to be able to eat anything. It occurred to me that he saw my frustration and he didn't know if I would be able to pull through for us. After the phone call, I said to my son, "Jeremiah, even if I had to go without, I would have gotten you food. I was just trying to find something for the both of us. It may take some time, but I will always take care of you." It occurred to me that we can have this response to God when it seems He is delayed in answering our prayers. It's not that we see Him get frustrated like I did in my human weakness, but we wonder if He will pull through for us. Though He may not always answer in the way or the time frame we expect, God's heart is always "moved with pity for us." He hears our prayers, He knows what we need most. We just have to trust Him and the process, Catholic Pilgrims. Have a good Tuesday.
Continue Reading.png)
.png)
.png)