Should an amusement park ride have a monstrance?

[Teillard]

While on an amusement park ride, my astute 8-year-old said, “Dad, there’s that thing that holds the host!” Not sure to what he was referring, I blew off the comment as confusion with something else when I saw what he saw. On a great big pile of “pirate loot,” with a skeleton dressed as a pirate perched on top, we saw what appears to be an authentic monstrance. It looks of the old-fashioned style and is moderately tarnished. But it looks like the real thing. I’d be shocked if this was made as a mock-up of a real one, although the park’s attention to detail is compulsive, I know. If it is real, is this some type of abuse of a religious article? Perhaps there could be residue of the Blessed Sacrament remaining, who knows? I haven’t done anything with this information yet. What is the scoop?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

What is the scoop?

That is something you should ask the company that runs the park. Contact its public relations department and ask both whether this really is a eucharistic monstrance, and, if so, what the intended purpose is of including it in the ride. At this point, for all we know, the creators of the ride may simply have imagined that the chaplain of a sunken ship – perhaps a vessel sunk by pirates who themselves died during the battle – might have brought along the monstrance for use while at sea. If so, then the monstrance would simply be a prop in an imaginary world, much as the monstrance is used as a prominent prop in the 1986 movie, The Mission. If it is a real monstrance, then ask how it was obtained and if the property master made sure it no longer held any residue of eucharistic hosts.

The principles to keep in mind here are several and worth passing along to your 8-year-old. In fact, it might be a great learning opportunity for him to assist him in asking the public relations department the questions himself. An amusement park likely would be very interested in answering the polite questions of a young child. Here are the principles:

• Always find out what exactly is intended by the display, preferably by its creator and/or sponsor.
• Try to determine whether or not there could be just reason for the action in question.
• If there is no possible just reason for the action, determine the most constructive course of action and whether you are personally able to pursue it.
• If so, then take action.