When the Homily is about Immunology

Man made Famine



A news article may be found Here.

One thing not mentioned by this brief snippet is the fact that the Soviet government loved to shift the blame for famines on the Church and would then began an active campaign of persecution under the guise of liberating wealth from the Church and using it to feed people. Many folks today - even Christians - would likely have no problem in seeing the Church's possessions being forcibly liquidated for charity. Heck, I might have once counted myself as belonging to such a camp.

Of course, the fact of the matter is, that you could melt down every gold chalice and every gold laced icon, and you could sell off every single parcel of Church owned land and structures and it would not help nearly as much as if every wealthy Christian (by international standards) would rent one less movie a month for and give that 3-4 monthly dollars to charity.

I've made my opinion clear on this matter in the past: why the gold and beauty are more than just permittable, they are NECCESARY. Yes, I said neccesary, how can I say that? Well let me respond by asking a question: Is Art neccesary? Is storytelling neccesary? I would argue they are.

Those who would sit in judgement on the Church ought to first remove the log from their own eye.

In the end, we are the Church...remember? Better a gold plated Gospel Book than a kick ass home theatre system...think about it, what do both these things say to us when we listen quietly?

"...where your treasure is, there will your heart be also..."

Kind of a different twist huh?

The Soviet Empire is gone, the Church remains.

O Lord, save your people...