A church should be a refuge from a harsh and ugly world, a place where deprived senses may swim in beauty. To deny us that refuge or to deny the poor a chance to be awestruck seems an injustice to me.
This idea is why I am so excited that our parish has a stained glass and art fund now, and we’ll be starting to gradually add some real, transcendent beauty to our mostly-bare parish. Please be sure to read the rest of Katrina’s article about the need for beauty in our parishes over at Patheos.