Why the Museum Matters

Art has the power to teach.

Back in the Medieval Era, the majority of Christendom was made up of hardworking and illiterate peasants who nonetheless were devout and pious Catholics. How did a father and a mother teach their children the truths of the Faith without so much as a catechism manual or Holy Bible? The answer- they went to church. In almost every Catholic church throughout the world, the Deposit of Faith was artistically presented in at least a modified way. Whether it was a mural of the Ten Commandments, or stained glass windows depicting the fifteen mysteries of the rosary, the Faith was taught through in art.

At institutions such as The Jubilee Museum and Catholic Cultural Center, we are sometimes asked why a potential benefactor would be inclined to lend financial support to our endeavors when so many around the world are in poverty. Should we not sell our valuable collection and give the proceeds to the poor?

Christ Himself answered this question 2,000 years ago when He said, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me” (Matt 26:11).

What our Lord is telling us is that it is not an “either/ or” but rather a “both/ and.” The corporal works of mercy- feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc.- is a necessary requirement for Christians (Matt 25:31-40). Yet so are the spiritual works of mercy, which include instructing the ignorant. By “ignorant” we are not referring to one’s intelligence, but rather we mean those who are unaware of the truths of the Catholic Faith. It is just as important to teach the Faith as it is to feed the hungry, and with the Holy Family Soup Kitchen being downstairs, we do both.

A real life example may be useful. On occasions we have Protestant visitors to our museum, and they are always impressed by our significant collection of rare Bibles. (We have translations in a dozen languages, and even one in Braille, ranging over a four hundred year period.) When they are shown our facsimile edition of the Gutenberg Bible, first book in print and published around 1455, some of our separated brethren become upset. They are mad not at us, but at their pastors who taught them that the Catholic Church added seven books to the Old Testament at the Council of Trent (1545-1563). They are stunned to see those seven books in print almost eighty years before Martin Luther removed them from his translation of the Bible into German.

Another powerful reason why our ministry needs to be preserved is one of divine justice. Religious art needs to be preserved to give glory and honor to our Creator. In the Old Testament, when God asked for sacrifices, He asked for the best of one’s flocks. This is why He accepted Abel’s offerings but not Cain’s (Gen 4:2-7). We need to offer God the finest gifts, as the Wise Men gave the Christ child gold, frankincense, and myrrh. He deserves the finest things from us, both spiritually (through prayer and good works) and temporally (through offering Him a fitting channel for divine worship).

In an age when the tallest and most prestigious buildings are secular and not for God’s glory; where art is designed to offend rather than inspire; where God is (at best) a mere afterthought rather than the focus of our lives--- we need The Jubilee Museum more than ever.