Appreciated bishop’s outreach at Easter
What a blessing to open the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Easter and see the compelling half-page ad placed by the Richmond Diocese. The message to Catholics (and others) was elegant in its simplicity: the words of Our Lord, “Peace be with you,” followed by, “Been away? We’d love to see you this Easter season.”
The graphic, the crucifix viewed from the back and below, seems to call the endangered faithful to come home, to view the crucifix in its proper perspective above the altar.
It nudges the viewer into thinking, “This is not properly focused. Maybe I’m not focused. Instead of closing him out of my sorry life, I want to go back to my church and receive him face-to-face.”
Many of us Catholics devote much prayer time to friends and family who have forgotten God and his Church. Thank you, Bishop Knestout, for your public prayer for them on the day of resurrection. – Pat Kile, Colonial Heights
Editor’s note: The ad, in Spanish, also appeared in the Tidewater Hispanic News.
Are ‘enhancements’ witness to the faith?
When the new St. Bede Church was built in 2003, no one envisioned that its arts and furnishing would include spending $30,000-$50,000 apiece for 34 mosaic panels at a cost of close to $1.5 million.
However, a group of generous, financially fortunate and influential donors, and the pastor, agreed to install the expensive array of 260-pound panels of “liturgical art” to create Saints of the Americas “worshiping in celestial hierarchy with our congregation,” according to a 2016 information sheet.
The plans for this venture were not widely shared; the anticipated cost was never publicly discussed; parish-wide opinions were not solicited; the concerns of conscientious objectors were dismissed; some on the parish staff were embarrassed by the cost; fundraising is continuing; and few identifiable saints are visible from any pew in the nave.
Who can pick out the patron saint of anesthesiologists or philanthropy? We are directed to some obscure website to discern who is who.
One wonders how Saints Francis, Benedict, Ignatius, Oscar Romero, Mother Teresa, Sister Bernice, Dorothy Day, our mission parish priests and parishioners, or our Holy Father would view this.
St. Bede and its House of Mercy are enormously generous to the poor. But some of us wonder whether these “enhancements” to our worship space are witness to our faith — or to our self-indulgence, however well intentioned.
An effort displaying a little more humility would be equally capable of connecting us to the holy men and women of the past. I pray that a simple, modest commemoration of an array of beloved saints might prayerfully be discerned going forward. – Tim Murphy, Williamsburg
‘Issue was great’
I am not sure if it is the joy of the Easter Season or not, but I wanted to share with you that for whatever reason, I found the April 18, 2022, issue of The Catholic Virginian one of the best since we moved here and subscribed about three and a half years ago.
It was so nice reading something about our fellow Catholics from Bristol to Williamsburg to Portsmouth as well as the Richmond area. As a retired English teacher, I enjoyed the update on SVVA and I always hear the voice of our Bishop Knestout as I read his column. I could go on and comment on every article that was included as they all provided me inspiration and gratitude for my gift of faith.
This is not to say that the other issues were not good, only that I felt this one was great! – Mary Lou Wentzel, Henrico