What?

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1. JOB says

   May 18, 2010 at 4:19 pm

   Here's the money behind the money quote:

   "She says the idea for the museum came to her in the early 1990s while in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where it struck her — she sees the hand of God in this — that America needed an institution devoted to Catholic culture."

   Clearly, if God was talking to her, she would have realized he'd said, "…that the Church needed an institution devoted to Catholic culture."

   Can't give what you ain't got – and the Church's patrimony is at best the same as a photo album tour at Aunt Gertrudes: "Oh, look, there's your Uncle Chad after his hernia operation… nice, nice, yes, yes…." etc. And just as exciting.

   Until the Church returns to her own culture (i.e. liturgy, discipline, catechesis, etc.), she's not really in any position to bring it to America…

   I think we have to consider the Church as part of the impoverished class – much like the Irish come off the boat – a rich heritage but dressed in rags at the moment. "Wait a bit though and we might take over this town…"

   JOB

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2. Jonathan Webb says

   May 18, 2010 at 4:43 pm

   I agree. I also think that this tendency of the Church to seek out and accept public funds can undermine its witness. I know that Catholic Community Services is limited in the kind of evangelization it can perform because it receives public money in many states. In Great Britain, where Catholic schools are subsidized by the government, the teachers have to be very careful about the way they pass on the teachings of the church. I wish the Church would just extract itself from public funds altogether even though there would be a period of painful adjustment.

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3. Anonymous says

   May 18, 2010 at 6:28 pm

   JOB I completely agree that we can't give what we ain't got.
   I would just add that at the heart of Catholic culture is Jesus Christ. It is from a living relationship with Jesus that all true Catholic culture flows. What the world needs is Jesus and the redemption he brings.

   Lansing Deacon

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4. JOB says

   May 18, 2010 at 7:30 pm

   Lansing Deacon,

   Agreed.

   JOB

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