a stumbling block before the cross!

[laurenthel]

I recently went to mass for the first time at the parish of All Saints'. The people there are very nice and sincere, but the church bears the unfortunate stamp of a certain artist/architect whom we all know. The cross above the altar has, standing in front of it, not on it, an image of Christ. Since I am accustomed to finding Christ on the cross

Comments

[laurenthel]

I don't object to it artistically; I object to it as an "aid" to worship. It is in violation of the general instruction for the mass, as is the processional cross in that church. As powerful as the message that Christ was held to the cross not by nails, but by His love for us, is, I prefer Father Corapi's message, which goes something like, "I tell everyone I meet, there is a man on a cross, and He will not come down until all the people of the world come together to take Him down." If I don't care for Novinski's aesthetics (which I usually don't. The amorphous Christ? Or have you seen the windows in St. Rita's?) I can live with it. But when his artistic statement is given pride of place over obedience to the Church's guidelines and helping people pray, that I object to.

[laurenthel]

I got a reply from the priest saying that Jesus actually is crucified on the processional cross, which I admit does technically fulfill the requirements. Still, I wish N. weren't so resurrection oriented, especially this time of year. *sigh*.