My spiritual director says that many times people will come up to you after a sermon and talk about what they "heard you say" in the homily and about "how it touched them"... even if you didn't say anything like what they thought they heard! The point is that people will hear certain things in a sermon that you don't say, or didn't intend to say. Obviously this gives one reason to be careful in what one preaches. But it also helps one see the various ways that God works... God says something to someone through the preacher's simple, flawed, human words - even something that he didn't intend to say!
My wife and I just returned from vacation. While away, we got to visit the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, which had recently undergone a huge renovation. The last time I was there was to see the famous "Timla Relic" a few years ago. Unlike some horrific church renovations that have gone on in recent years that were supposedly meant to "update" the church, this restoration was meant to "return" the interior of the building to its original Federal-period design. And I must say that it a very tasteful renovation. They did a really good job. It looks almost like an old early Episcopal church - white washed interior, minimal designs, etc. The interior is now very bright because they removed the stained glass (dark blue Willet windows), and uncovered the original skylights in the dome. They kept all of the good stuff (the high altar, altar rails, etc.), and brought some cool old stuff back (e.g. the nation's first RC epi...
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