Profanation of church in France: tabernacle broken, ciborium with hosts stolen

On Sunday, January 25th, Alain Krauth, priest of the parish of Vierzon together with some of the faithful discovered that the tabernacle was broken into and that a ciborium full of consecrated hosts stolen.

Ce dimanche 25 janvier, le père Alain Krauth, curé de la paroisse de Vierzon et quelques fidèles, se sont rendus compte que le tabernacle de l'église Notre-Dame de Vierzon avait été fracturé et qu'un ciboire rempli d'hosties consacrées avait été dérobé.

Source: http://www.diocese-bourges.org/actualites/profanation-a-leglise-notre-dame-de-vierzon

"The Church is One"

"The Church is one because of her source: "the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit." The Church is one because of her founder: for "the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross, . . . restoring the unity of all in one people and one body." The Church is one because of her "soul": "It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church's unity." Unity is of the essence of the Church:

"What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her "Church.""

Catechism of the Catholic Church 813

Praying together toward the Lord: "the symbolism of facing together, and awaiting Christ, is rich, time-honored and important...as we await the coming of the Lord"

"More recently, it has become common for the priest and the people to face one another during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The priest stands behind the altar as he consecrates the Eucharist, facing the people. The people see the face of the priest as he prays, and he sees their faces. These positions can have important symbolism too. They can remind us that we are a community—one body in Christ. And they can remind us that the Eucharist, at the center of the assembly, should also be at the center of our families, and our lives.

"But the symbolism of facing together, and awaiting Christ, is rich, time-honored and important. Especially during Advent, as we await the coming of the Lord, facing the east together—even symbolically facing Christ together at the altar and on the crucifix—is a powerful witness to Christ’s imminent return. Today, at a time when it is easy to forget that Christ is coming—and easy to be complacent in our spiritual lives and in the work of evangelization—we need reminders that Christ will come."

- Bishop Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, on prayer of priest and people facing "east" together in the celebration of Holy Mass.

Read the entire column here: http://www.lincolndiocese.org/op-ed/bishop-s-column/3004-looking-to-the-east