Recently, my family toured the USS Alabama in Mobile, AL.
My son absolutely loved being on the big battleship and seeing what life would have been like for the sailors. We talked a lot about how his great-grandpa served on a big ship, too—the USS Jackson.
When we saw this room, the chapel, he got excited and said, “Hey! This is the Catholic Church on the ship!”
I explained to him that the space would have been shared with other faiths. They would have taken down all the Catholic things for other services.
To which he asked, “So, they left it like this so you’d know what this room is for?”
I smiled and said, “Yeah, Buddy, I suppose so.”
Our Catholic Faith expresses itself in ways that appeal to the five senses: We hear the bells, we smell the incense, we feel the Holy Water touch our foreheads, we see the Crucifix-a reminder of the cost of sin and the love of God—and we taste the Eucharist.
All these things signal to our hearts and minds that we are involved in something sacred, Catholic Pilgrim. They indicate, as they indicated to my son, a purpose and a meaning, which is that this space is intended for God and worship.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Thursday.
