08.01.2008 10:59 am
Burke dedicates Wisconsin shrine
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Archbishop Raymond Burke dedicated the pilgrimage site - the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe - he founded in his home diocese of La Crosse, Wis. yesterday.
Joe Orso, religion reporter and columnist at our Lee Enterprises sister paper, the La Crosse Tribune, wrote a great story about yesterday’s dedication. And the paper has a terrific, interactive multimedia page for anyone who wants to take a closer look at the shrine.
The shrine’s own website has some interesting features, including a schedule of events that Burke took part in during this dedication week. And a Catholic New Agency story has a good description of some of the shrine’s features.
And Duncan Stroik, one of the shrine’s architects, describes the shrine on his website.
Tim Townsend has been the religion reporter at the Post-Dispatch since June 2004. He previously covered personal finance and consumer news for The Wall Street Journal. He holds master's degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Yale Divinity School. In 2005 he won the Templeton Religion Reporter of the Year Award, given by the Religion Newswriters Association. 
From the La Crosse Tribune story comes the statement: “On Wednesday, Burke had invited a gathering of people at the shrine to pray the shrine stays true to its mission, and warned them that the best in humans and the church is subject to attack from the ‘forces of evil.’”
How can the shrine have a mission? A mission implies it is trying to do something and, therefore, it must be alive. All I saw was a candle house, statues and plaques. Its purpose may be to raise money but to say it has a mission seems downright silly.
To davel:
You stated that in order for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe to have a mission, it must be alive. You also said that all you saw was a candle house, statues and plaques. You obviously missed the thousands of people on the grounds and in the candle chapel and the church. Those people are the life, breath and soul of this Shrine. They are the ones who give life to the Shrine and to its mission.
Corporations around the world also have mission statements. They too are inanimate entites that fulfill their missions though people - employees and vendors joining together to serve their customers.
Go visit the Shrine personally. Then, look at the people who are inspired by its beautiful church to do great and small things.
A shrine is defined as a place or an object. The free and public encyclopedia, Wikipedia, does not show a shrine as something that is alive. We can pretend it is alive by giving it a mission to be fulfilled by people but, in reality, it is the people who are alive and have the mission. Those people, Bishop Burke included, cannot give a mission to the shrine.
In the spirit of truth, it is better to unravel mystery, rather than add to the knot. If genetic technology allows us to create shrines that are actually alive then, maybe sometime around Halloween, I would want to go see it.