Sunday, December 30, 2012

Holy Objects on Display

   Many years ago I was wandering about the British Museum when I came across a most beautiful chalice on display. At the time I was a bit shocked and sadden to think that one of the most sacred objects in Catholic liturgy was on display in such a secular setting. I remember thinking that now I knew how Native Americans feel when they see objects from their sacred burial grounds displayed in museums in America.


  What escaped me that day was the thought that by displaying these objects in a museum, those who do not know the history of the Church might think these objects are remnants of a distant past, when in fact, Sacred Chalices are in use to worship God in the Holy Sacrifice of the mass every day, all over the world.

I just found an article at "A Reluctant Sinner" blog which reminded me of that day in London.

Yesterday was the Feast of St Thomas Becket, the heroic 12th century martyr and defender of the Church’s rights against the machinations of a tyrannical king. In the ordinary form of the Roman Rite, today is the Feast of the Holy Family. As such, the present day leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, has issued a Pastoral Letter calling on all Christians to defend marriage from the machinations of today’s political elites. (See previous blog post.)

One of the bizarre facts about the age we live in is that many of our secular institutions, especially museums, treat the Catholic Church as something that used to exist in the distant past, but which has now somehow disappeared from the face of the earth.

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Enjoy,

"Viva Cristo Rey!!"