\u201cAmy, you cannot live so close to such beauty and not go see it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On her way home back to Ohio from my house, that\u2019s what my best friend texted to me after her family stopped off to see The Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My goodness, Catholic Pilgrims, the beauty in this church is stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Photos are forbidden, so I wasn\u2019t able to take any, but if you watch EWTN, you may have seen the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never seen a monstrance display more beautiful. Christ held up high, surrounded by angel statues amid all the tasteful gold coloring is just striking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t know, but it was simply beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know, so many people gripe to us Catholics about our beautiful churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThink of the money that could be used for the poor!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo extravagant. God would want that money used for the poor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This complaint reminds me so much of Judas Iscariot\u2019s comment about Mary anointing Christ\u2019s feet with costly oil in our Gospel reading today from John 12:1-11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy was this oil not sold for three hundred days\u2019 wages and given to the poor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heaven and earth meet inside our Catholic Churches where the True Presence of Christ is acknowledged through splendor and majesty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We could tear down all our Catholic Churches, sell everything to care for the poor and within no time, we\u2019d discover that we \u201calways have the poor with\u201d us, just as Our Lord said. And we\u2019d be starved of so much good beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If ever in Alabama, my gosh, make time to see this Shrine. Thank you, Mother Angelica, for this holy place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a blessed Monday of Holy Week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAmy, you cannot live so close to such beauty and not go see it!\u201d On her way home back to Ohio from my house, that\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[905],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n