We also sometimes forget that what is used at Mass has a lot to do with the unfortunate false-value of consumerism which pervades our entire society. Every day, my parish mailbox is stuffed full of junk mail specifically targeting churches. Remember that everytime someone buys a crystal goblet to use as a chalice, some business makes a profit–after all, that’s what they do. I recall that years ago, these goblets were marketed pretty aggressively. As we all know, marketing strategies can be quite successful in convincing us to buy things we otherwise don’t want or need. It may have taken a while, but for a lot of pastors, seeing these goblets in the catalogs, and seeing the inevitable mailings for them, eventually just wears down their resistance to such things. And quite frankly, the more we see them used in other parishes, the more it starts to look like this is “normal” because they simply cease to look out-of-the-ordinary. It’s not a matter of trying to keep up with the other parishes (every time the neighboring parish buys a new vestment, we have to do likewise…) but it is a matter of saying that when something becomes so commonplace that we fail even to take note of it, our own resistance starts to wear down.
I never liked glass/crystal chalices, and never bought one, but I do admit that I many times I was tempted to do so, if for no other reason than the fact that I kept seeing them in the ads and seeing them in other churches, I started to wonder if I wasn’t in the wrong for resisting them. When I was a deacon, my pastor had one of these. When I inquired if they were permitted, he responded that he bought it from the religious goods store operated by the diocese, so therefore it must be permitted. And he wasn’t being sarcastic either; he is not the kind of priest to knowingly do anything improper. He trusted those in authority to give him the right direction. The store had a policy against selling anything the Church did not permit–they wouldn’t sell a blue vestment for example, even if someone asked.
Since the Church has made Her position clear on this, at the present time, there’s no excuse for any priest who uses a glass/crystal chalice. But we also must keep in perspecitve that because these things were openly permitted (one way or another) for a good many years, we can’t necessarily fault the pastors who did buy them in the past.
, “Soul Magazine” “The Fatima Family Messenger” and others. It was difficult at that time know which publications to listen to. But I was open to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit in guiding me to the truth. Even some of those publications that at first seemed good and faithful were in fact harmful (Fatima Crusader). I am glad to see so many of our young people today fired up about the truth of our Catholic Faith and want to see the Liturgy done right. The internet has made it so easy to do research especially for those who are seeking truth. But one must still be open to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in guiding them to the truth.