The Sacred and the Profitable

Ever so slowly Episcopal services are returning to normal. Today we ditched the prerecorded music and sung the hymns, psalms, Gloria, and Sanctus, slightly muffled through our masks.

The congregation still was required to:

Pass a "touchless" peace by waving at each other;

Partake of the communion bread but not the chalice;

Retain a minimum six-foot distance in the pews, except for family members.

In the homily the priest mused about concepts of "church" that were the subject of today's lessons in 2 Samuel (that's "second Samuel," Donald) and Ephesians. The church consists of its people, but it is also true that physical places of worship have meaning for most Christians, who will make great sacrifices to build them.

Sacrifice, sanctuary, and sanctified all derive from the same Latin root sanctus ("holy"). Churches are not mere buildings but holy places, sacrosanct.

Grimbergen Abbey (WSJ photo)

When financial requirements become onerous, one can't be too sanctimonious . In Belgium a 900-year-old abbey is brewing beer:

Grimbergen Abbey on Thursday relaunched a brewery inside its walls for the first time in more than 200 years. The resurrection has furnished its sponsor, Carlsberg, with its own kind of holy grail: unique and authentic brews...

The priests, who rise to pray at 7 a.m. and then breakfast in silence, have blessed the brewery. They have final say over the beers, Carlsberg executives say. In their white habits, the priests stand out as they glide through the glitzy bar and brewery with its modern equipment.

The royalties from Carlsberg help pay for the upkeep of the abbey’s buildings and the priests’ pastoral and charitable work, says Father Karel.

That's the spirit.