Posted on 07/17/2007 9:05:27 AM PDT by PAR35
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
On any Sunday morning, sanctuary doors of churches that line Main Street and nearby thoroughfares swing open to welcome thousands of faithful who come to worship in some of the city's oldest, most prominent religious institutions. But at other times in the week, doors may be locked tight, windows latched and grounds and hallways patrolled by burly uniformed guards.
-snip-
And though the security problems may be most pronounced at the city's downtown-area churches, their suburban counterparts often implement equally stringent safety measures to protect their property and congregants.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Which reminds me of a great old episode of Dragnet, the TV show. (Paraphrased from aging memory)
In the show there was a theft at a church on Christmas Eve. Detectives Friday and Gannon go to speak to the priest. The priest tells them the he had presided over midnight Mass the night before (Christmas Eve), and then he returned to the rectory. When he returned to the church the next morning he found that the baby Jesus was taken from the church’s Nativity display.
Friday asks how the burglars gained entry.
The priest explains that the doors to the church are never locked.
Friday says “You never lock the doors? Even to thieves?”
The priest says “ESPECIALLY TO THIEVES!”
You can bet the farm on that doc.
We use mid-level wooden ones, but I believe they have inventory tags. I'll check next week. I know the old ones were, but we've had to get a few replacements, and I haven't looked on the bottom recently.
Yes, a clear anti-religion agenda in the story.
Kongress.......
Neat quote from "Dragnet." From my observation, most Catholic churches in Midtown Manhattan today are open all day from about 6 a.m. till at least 6 or 7 p.m., regardless of whether Mass is being said.
Maybe it's because in Midtown, the daytime population is so big that there are almost always people praying in any given church. The Catholic custom is that it's good to visit every day for a time, to keep Our Lord company. It may have the unconscious effect of discouraging crime for at least half the hours of the day.
It’s only irrelevant to people who a) don’t live in Houston b) who have therefore never had to deal with the Katrina-related crime we have.
Katrina made a big difference for the worse in the livability of my hometown.
Many's the time our parents/aunts/uncles would make a quick stop when passing the church. My sister always tells a funny story about when she was little and our aunt would often babysit her for our mother. The aunt could hardly pass a Catholic church without stopping in for a few minutes. And because girls were supposed to wear something on their heads in those days, the aunt would pull out a dirty Kleenex from her purse and bobby-pin it to my sister's hair before going into the church. You should hear my sister tell the story. It's a great story, though sadly I think that that memory is one of the things that drove my sister away from the church.
That’s true, but a lot of that’s settled out. It’s tne MS-13 illegal gangs that are screwing everything up.
LOL!
The old Kleenex-mantilla trick, eh? (Was your sis exaggerating? I feel sure it was a CLEAN Kleenex.)
My wife still gets apoplectic when she recalls the tissue-wearing faithful she swears she saw as a girl. There are many chapels where something close to that custom still reigns.
St. Paul was in favor of ladies covering their heads in church because "Your hair is your glory," and female beauty can be distracting to others, especially men. But Kleenex is possibly more so, judging from my wife's reaction. . .
:) Well, we’re just glad you have had your doors open to those who want to visit for so long. Sad when you can’t enter a church during the day for a visit or to light a candle for others for fear of being attacked or whatever. Vandalism etc.
yes, fires from the candles etc. People who do that have no fear of God or anything else. They are in the face of God because they see nothing happens to them like lightening striking them down or anything like that. Well, they should think twice...we ALL will meet our maker one day and THAT I would tell them is when they better have the fear of God because HE has been watching ALL of us and...they will pay at that time. They may think they are cool now but...just wait. They are in for one helluva shock. Hope they are prepared.
It’s hot up here this week too. Yanks don’t have Southerners experience in moving slowly, so they’re suffering! Good to hear from you; it’s been awhile!
I'd love to see a few lightening bolts hitting those who burn churches/vandalize or steal from them.
We’ve actually had a lot of rain this summer - very odd. Nice to see you as well.
A true story. A friend of mine many years ago was an unbeliever and basically dared God to prove He was who He said He was. In a drunken incident, he decided to relieve himself at the steps of a church to show God what he thought of Him. Out of a clear sky came a lightening bolt that landed too close for comfort. Even in his drunken state, he figured he got his answer, looked into the claims of the Bible and became a Christian. He always remembered the jolt that got him moving in the right direction.
You have to love a great sense of humor! lol Great story
My sister lives not far from the Astrodome and says that the entire area changed with the arrival of the Katrina refugees. It is really terrible for a city that opened its arms wide to be victimized so.
Your poor sister . . . she’s right.
Well, it was a crumpled up Kleenex that came out of the aunt's purse, so the "used" or "dirty" factor may have just been a matter of relativity, but in the imagination of a young girl it turned out to be quite significant.
To this day my sister becomes quite agitated and animated when discussing the issue. We have so much to laugh at from our childhood, I'm just thankful to God for giving me my wonderful parents and siblings.
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